Since the Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) Taskforce was launched just over a year ago, the team has proudly worked closely with key partners and stakeholders to ensure that the policing response to CSAE investigation is as informed as it can be, and that victims and survivors are supported with empathy and understanding throughout the criminal justice process. The Hydrant Programme, who leads the delivery of the CSE Taskforce, champions this engagement, which ensures national advice to policing partners is informed by the knowledge and experience held within the third sector. One of the strategic objectives of the Taskforce is to: “Maintain the Child Sexual Abuse Dataset (CSAD) and the Complex and Organised Child Abuse Dataset (COCAD) and through analysis and research further enhance our understanding of the scale, risk and prevalence of all child sexual abuse and exploitation.”

We are now pleased to share with you the first public facing Group-Based Offending Publication. Based on datasets collected from 44 police forces, this national snapshot in time gives insight, analysis and commentary on the scale, nature, and threat of group-based CSAE. The report gives insight into crimes recorded against four complex or organised criteria – Familial, Child Sexual Exploitation, Institutional and Ritualistic along with ‘other’ and ‘unknown’ categories which forms the COCAD. We would like to take this opportunity to thank you, and your teams, for your ongoing work and support as part of the CSE Taskforce. We all know the wider challenge we share to tackle child sexual abuse and exploitation in all its forms, and in doing so collaboratively, our joint effort will have greater impact, protect more children and support victims and survivors more effectively. To read the full Group-Based Offending Report visit – https:// www.hydrantprogramme.co.uk/latestnews

NAPAC CEO, Gabrielle Shaw, The National Association for People Abused in Childhood said:

“This is such an important and timely report, which demonstrates how data-driven insights can challenge misconceptions and drive meaningful action. By focusing exclusively on contact-based crimes, it offers a vital snapshot of group-based child sexual exploitation in the UK.
 
The data confronts us with deeply troubling truths: in 2023, over half of ‘other’ group-based child sexual exploitation cases involved children offending against other children, predominantly through sexual activity involving a child. And victimisation starts shockingly young – a quarter of all victims of group-based child sexual exploitation are under 10 years old. 
 
It is also sobering to see that the family environment – the place where children should be safest – is in fact where the highest risk lies, with 26% of all group-based offending happening here.
 
This report challenges all of us to rethink previously-held assumptions. We recognise that this data is a snapshot in time, and that true figures are likely to be much higher – NAPAC knows from the many thousands of adult survivors we support every year that most victims of child sexual abuse and exploitation do not report what happened to them at the time.
 
The key takeaway? This is a wake-up call for every sector of society to recognise the evolving threat, work collaboratively to safeguard children and to tackle the root causes of exploitation”.
 

Assistant Chief Constable Becky Riggs, NPCC lead Child Abuse Protection and Investigation said:

“One of the biggest shifts in recent policing practice and policy is a renewed focus on the importance of data and how, with careful analysis of police recorded crimes we can gain a deeper understanding of the scale, nature and threat of group-based child sexual abuse and exploitation. 

“Today’s report reveals where our efforts in tackling these most abhorrent crimes need to be focussed. The findings will allow policing and partners to consider whether current responses reflect the very clear changes in threat. Put simply, are we in the right spaces, and are there things we should be doing differently?

Tackling CSAE requires a whole-system approach. Police, partners and the public must work together to prevent harm, pursue offenders and protect children, enabling them to thrive as the become the adults of tomorrow”.

Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls, Jess Phillips said:

“Child sexual abuse is a devastating crime which can leave victims traumatised for the rest of their lives. It is vital that we have the most up to date intelligence so that we can better protect victims and bring more perpetrators to justice.

The Government is funding policing partners, including the Child Sexual Exploitation Taskforce, to improve our understanding of these complex crimes – and target our efforts to stop them.”

Lisa Witherden, Head of National Programmes for The Children’s Society, said: 

“The Children’s Society works towards a future in which no child is sexually exploited and every child receives a safe and happy childhood; however, we cannot achieve this in isolation. 

Sharing data and learning, as well as the views and experiences of children and those that live and work with them, is an essential element of combatting the scourge of child sexual abuse in the UK.”

To read the report in full visit https://www.hydrantprogramme.co.uk/publications/hydrant-publications 

Today (Thursday 21 November) the CSE Taskforce is sharing the Group-Based Offending Publication.