Child sexual abuse is horrendously common. Recent estimates suggest that more than one in seven girls and one in 20 boys, or half a million children, are sexually abused in the UK each year. Such abuse happens across all segments of society, in a wide variety of contexts – though most commonly within the home.
Focus on this issue has led to significant increases in police recording of child sexual offences, reaching more than 100,000 in 2021/22 in England and Wales. That also reflects efforts from police to take sexual abuse more seriously and better support victims – although issues still do persist. Professionals are also now better at recognising the risks around sexual abuse of older children outside the home.
