Call to address sexual behaviour
The NSPCC wants action to tackle sexually harmful behaviour carried out by children and young people
Youth offending might be falling, but sexual offences by under-18s show little sign of decline.
The most recent Youth Justice Board figures show that children and young people committed 1,888 proven sexual offences in 2011/12, down 3.3 per cent on the 1,952 in 2009/10. However, this compares to a 22.2 per cent fall in the total number of crimes committed by young people in the same period.
There is a range of reasons why children and young people commit sexual offences, from a lack of boundaries growing up to being victims of sexual abuse themselves. There are also growing concerns that the ease of access to hardcore pornography online is making the situation worse.
But local services are not always geared up to spot or deal with the problem, and this gap in provision has prompted the NSPCC to call for more specialist services and training for police, social workers and teachers.
Jon Brown, head of strategy and development at the NSPCC, says awareness of sexually harmful behaviour by young people is increasing, but that more work is needed.
Source: CYPNow
Click here for full article
