60% hike in child sex abuse convictions
September 02, 2011
Posted by:Jonathan Wheeler
The BBC is reporting the increase today - from 1,363 paedophiles convicted in 2005 to 2,135 in 2010. The Ministry puts the increase down to increased awareness of the problem, and better detection. It does not necessarily mean that there's more child abuse today, rather that the crime is being reported more often and the police are now taking these reports more seriously. Certainly I think our criminal justice agencies are better trained to deal with victims more sensitively than in the past which should be applauded. However evidentially these cases are difficult to win at trial and children's charities say that child abuse remains seriously under-reported in this country. A recent report published by the NSPCC suggested that 1 in 20 of secondary school pupils had been the victim of sexual assault. This is an alarming statistic, and if it's right then clearly the vast number of child abuse cases don't go anywhere near a criminal court room. Disclosing abuse is often a terrifying ordeal but more people are finding the courage to do so - in turn they will help others to do the same and with luck fewer abusers will go unpunished.