Child sexual exploitation should not take lead over other abuse

Statistics show that when compared to other forms of child sexual abuse and maltreatment, CSE is “a relatively rare phenomenon”

CHILD sexual exploitation (CSE) – including the notorious activities of grooming gangs – has become an issue of massive concern and was dubbed a “national threat” by Prime Minister David Cameron.  

But now a University of Huddersfield expert on child protection has controversially argued that while CSE can lead to “horrendous abuse”, the scale of the problem might be exaggerated and that other, more prevalent forms of maltreatment of children and young people should not be sidelined.

Dr Bernard Gallagher has published an article titled Child sexual exploitation – A national threat?.  In it, he analyses statistics showing that when compared to other forms of child sexual abuse and maltreatment, CSE is “a relatively rare phenomenon”.

story continues below...

The statistical analysis at the heart of Dr Gallagher’s article includes a table showing that of children and young people assessed as being in need in England in early 2016, the bottom place, at 3.9 per cent, was occupied by those at risk of CSE, a figure considerably lower than those affected by issues such as domestic violence (49.6 per cent), drug misuse (19.3 per cent), physical abuse (14 per cent) and sexual abuse (6.4 per cent).

He acknowledges that CSE is extremely serious issue that needs the “most robust response possible”, but argues that “all forms or manifestations of child maltreatment should receive the same enhanced level of concern and attention that have been given to CSE”.

“There is, in my opinion, no case for escalating CSE above much more prevalent and equally harmful forms of child maltreatment as seems to have been the case in some media, political and other quarters.”

Dr Gallagher – who is Reader in Social Work and Applied Social Sciences at the University of Huddersfield – describes the media furore over child sexual exploitation, and the widespread anger over alleged failings by police and social services in towns such as Rotherham.

It was a furore that led to “a surge in anxiety over, and efforts to address, the problem of CSE on the part of national and local politicians, and a host of statutory, voluntary and other agencies”.

The crescendo was reached, argues Dr Gallagher, when, in 2015,  Prime Minister David Cameron, driven largely by the CSE scandals, announced that child sexual abuse should be seen as a “national threat”, leading some commentators to conclude that the Government saw CSE as “equivalent to terrorism”.

Most people are horrified by the abuse experienced by victims of CSE and appalled by the failure of anyone in authority not to have done their utmost to protect these children and young people.

Dr Bernard Gallagher

“It is also the case, however, that many of those familiar with child protection – and more particularly the array of contexts in which children are maltreated – may be perplexed by the massive and unprecedented attention that has been directed at just one category of child maltreatment,” added Dr Gallagher.

Dr Gallagher is also concerned that the response to CSE has arisen at a time when resources available to tackle child maltreatment more generally are dwindling.

• Child sexual exploitation – A national threat? by Dr Bernard Gallagher, appears in NOTA News, published by the National Organisation for the Treatment of Abusers.