Child Sexual Abuse – Latest Key Findings

SSS Learning 3 min read

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A new report by the Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse (CSA Centre) has revealed worrying trends in child sexual abuse (CSA) across England and Wales.

Cases Formally Identified by Local Authorities

Despite estimates that around 500,000 children experience sexual abuse each year, the number of cases formally identified by Local Authorities remains disproportionately low. The latest data from 2023/24 raises critical concerns about safeguarding failures, declining intervention rates and emerging online threats.

CSA Identification by Children’s Services

One of the most troubling findings in the report is the significant drop in CSA identification by children’s services. The number of child needs assessments where sexual abuse was a factor fell to its lowest level in nine years, with an 8% decrease from 2022/23, despite the overall number of child assessments remaining stable. Additionally, the number of child protection plans (CPPs) for CSA has reached its lowest level in 30 years, accounting for just 3.5% of all plans in 2023/24.

This does not indicate a reduction in child sexual abuse, but rather highlights a potential failure in identifying and responding to cases.

Why Cases May Get Missed

Safeguarding experts warn that children may be slipping through the cracks due to:

Inconsistent professional training in recognising abuse;
Resource shortages within Local Authority safeguarding teams;
Increased focus on other forms of abuse, leading to CSA being overlooked.

As the report indicates, without early intervention, children may remain in abusive situations for longer, exacerbating the long-term psychological and physical impacts of adverse childhood experiences.

Whilst social services identified fewer cases, the criminal justice system reported an increase in CSA related prosecutions and convictions. This suggests that while fewer children are being safeguarded at an early stage, more cases are reaching the courts, but only after significant harm has occurred.

This raises urgent questions:

Are children receiving support too late, only after serious harm or disclosure?
Is the burden of safeguarding shifting from social services to the criminal justice system?
What impact does delayed intervention have on children’s recovery and well-being?

The disconnect between falling social service interventions and rising prosecutions must be urgently addressed. Prevention and early safeguarding must be prioritised to protect children before they suffer prolonged harm.

Regional Inconsistencies

The report also highlights significant regional inconsistencies in CSA identification:

London and the East of England recorded the lowest CSA identification rates.
Some regions showed dramatic variation between Local Authorities, suggesting that a child’s likelihood of being effectively safeguarded depends on where they live.

These disparities raise concerns about postcode lotteries in safeguarding. A child at risk in one Local Authority may receive timely intervention, while another in a different region may be overlooked entirely.

This reinforces the need for a standardised national approach to CSA identification, ensuring that children’s safety does not depend on regional policy variations.

Online Sexual Exploitation

The nature of CSA is evolving, with a sharp increase in online exploitation and sextortion cases. Recent findings from the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) highlight that:

Online predators are targeting children as young as 11-13;
Sextortion scams coerce victims into sending explicit images, later blackmailing them for money;
In 2024, at least five cases involving 11-13-year-olds were confirmed, part of a larger trend of online CSA cases affecting hundreds of children.

The rise in online abuse calls for stronger safeguarding measures, including:

Improved digital education for children and parents on online risks;
Tighter regulations on social media and gaming platforms where grooming occurs;
Stronger law enforcement responses to track and prosecute offenders.

The Urgent Need for Action

The 2023/24 data paints a stark picture of child sexual abuse trends in the UK:

Identification by social services is declining, even though CSA remains widespread;
Criminal prosecutions are increasing, but children are not being safeguarded early enough;
Regional variations are creating a postcode lottery for children’s safety;
Online threats are growing, requiring urgent intervention.

To tackle this abuse there needs to be:

Improved CSA identification training for social care, education, and healthcare professionals;
Closure of the regional safeguarding gap, by enforcing consistent CSA reporting procedures across England and Wales;
Enhanced multi-agency cooperation between children’s services, law enforcement and mental health support teams;
Stricter digital safety policies and better education for young people.

There can be no doubt that this report is a wake-up call for policymakers, safeguarding professionals and law enforcement agencies. Urgent action is needed to prevent this abuse.

SSS Learning

26 March 2025