Child Abuse In England Has Touched Appalling Heights, Says Children's Commissioner Report

Child abuse in England has touched appalling heights, says Children’s Commissioner report

Written on:November 21, 2023

Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has said the report is a wake-up call about the grave child abuse situation in England

The Office of the Children’s Commissioner has publicised statistics, which are certain to distress the Britons, as the statistics demonstrate that at least 2409 children were raped or mistreated by criminal gangs or groups in England between August 2010 and October 2011.

The provisional report of the Office of the Children’s Commissioner deems that an additional 16,500 children were at massive risk of abuse.

Deputy Children’s Commissioner, Sue Berelowitz, has remarked to the media that the statistics represented a conservative estimate only. She launched a rather sharp attack on the English child welfare agencies, saying that the agencies weren’t sufficiently conscious of the warning signals and that they were not taking adequate measures to safeguard children.

Sue Berelowitz, nonetheless, pronounced that there are some wonderful exceptions in the form of some ‘child wellbeing agencies’, which are doing laudable work in this field. But the disconcerting and unacceptable reality is that many child welfare agencies aren’t performing adequately.

The provisional report, presented by the Office of the Children’s Commissioner, is the most elaborate investigation hitherto of child exploitation by criminal gangs in England. The report consists of evidence, which is traumatically explicit.

As per the provisional report, white males constitute the biggest group of perpetrators in criminal gangs. Nearly 28% of the victims of abuse and rape, who were brought to the inquiry’s concentration, belonged to Black and ethnic minority backgrounds.

The provisional report focuses on sexual, physical and emotional mistreatment. What is emphasised in the report is the usage of cellular phones, social networking sites and other technological forms, via which criminal gangs groom, intimidate and chase victims. The impact of violent pornography is also analysed in the report.

The report declares that all child welfare agencies must be made conscious of the warning signals of child abuse like children going missing, antisocial behaviour, drug/alcohol addiction, mental instability, self-harming among others. The agencies must act decisively to rescue children from such perils.

This report has emerged just months after nine Asian males were convicted at Liverpool Crown Court for grooming white girls with drink and drugs in Rochdale.