Sexual Offences - Dramatic Rise in Convictions

Convictions against people who commit sex offences on children aged under 16 in England and Wales has risen by nearly 60 per cent in six years. A Freedom of Information request to the Ministry of Justice found that in 2005, 1,363 people were convicted while in 2010, it was 2,135. The rise has been attributed to better detection and raised awareness. Child protection groups, however, say sex offences against children still remains a hugely under-reported crime. Recent research by the NSPCC suggested that one in 20 secondary school children had been sexually assaulted and the group's head of strategy and development, Lisa Harker, said that last year police in England and Wales were notified of more than 23,000 offences. She said: "It's difficult to tell if these figures indicate an increase in the number of sex offences being committed against children. It may be that more people - adults and children - are becoming aware of abuse and so are reporting cases to the police and other authorities. Nevertheless it's still a relatively small number of convictions considering child sex abuse is a big problem." An MoJ spokesperson said the child sex offender disclosure scheme which was rolled out to all police forces in England and Wales earlier this year was "a major step forward in our ability to protect children from sex offenders." The spokesman added that the Government will publish an action plan in the autumn to tackle child sexual exploitation, which will build on existing guidance and "our developing understanding of this dreadful abuse, including through local agencies' work around the country."

Written by Criminal Law and Justice Weekly 

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