The Home Office has published a paper setting out the best
available evidence on group-based child sexual exploitation. This
includes the characteristics of offenders and their networks, how
they operate, the context in which these crimes are committed and
implications of these findings for local partners and for policy.
The paper draws on the literature review which examines
group-based child sexual exploitation in the community, drawing
on academic research, official statistics and grey literature. It
aims to assess the quality of the evidence and highlight
challenges and evidence gaps in this area.
Executive summary
11. This paper considers child sexual exploitation (CSE)
perpetrated by groups, a form of child sexual abuse characterised
by multiple interconnected offenders grooming and sexually
exploiting children. This includes forms of offending commonly
referred to as ‘street grooming’ or ‘grooming gangs’. Group-based
CSE has been the subject of major investigations, attracting
significant public concern and highlighting shocking state
failures that have caused untold hurt to victims, their families
and communities.
12. Before 2010, the evidence on the nature of group-based child
sexual exploitation came from a small number of significant
cases. Over the last decade there has been a shift in public
understanding and recognition of child sexual abuse, coupled with
a surge in law enforcement activity. Investigations into
group-based child sexual exploitation in Telford, Rochdale,
Rotherham, Oxford, Bristol, Newcastle, North Wales and other
parts of the country have attracted considerable media and public
interest. These high-profile cases have brought the issue of
sexual exploitation of children by groups out of the shadows,
although there is still much more work to do to fully understand
this form of offending, given significant underreporting.
13. To inform the national policy response the Home Office has
assimilated, and continues to gather learning from, these cases
to consolidate its understanding of CSE offending by groups as
part of routine policy development. Officials have completed a
review of published evidence, conducted interviews with police
officers across England and Wales, and have undertaken desk-based
research to assess the quality of data and evidence in relation
to group-based CSE. This paper sets out the key findings from
these strands of work, which were not initially intended for
publication, but which we felt would be helpful in tackling this
form of offending on the ground. The paper also includes
additional insights from independent reports and investigations
in places like Rotherham, Rochdale and Northumbria, as well as
illustrative case studies at page 40.
14. The primary aim of this paper is to present the best
available evidence on the characteristics of this form of
offending at an aggregated national level. The way in which
group-based child sexual exploitation manifests within different
local areas varies significantly, and it is therefore important
for partners to have a robust, shared profile of the local
threat. In order to help with this, we have also included some of
the implications of our work for local agencies.
Read the full paper
