This article references child sexual abuse and exploitation.
I’ve spent my life watching society ignore childhood sexual abuse (CSA) or use it as a political football to flick the responsibility from one party to another. At other times, worse yet, I’ve seen talking heads manipulate it to promote fascist ideologies against multi-culturalism, falsely painting it as something only committed by specific cultures. (Spoiler: CSA is perpetrated by members of every subsection of our society.)
Every time CSA gets some meaningful coverage in mainstream media, someone like Elon Musk comes along and undercuts its moment with ill-informed soundbites demanding further inquiries into an already thoroughly excavated scandal. And every time we fall for it, allowing misguided prats to derail the conversation into one focused on defensive clapbacks.
Watching Musk and the like “defend victims” while insulting Jess Phillips, the Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women & Girls, who does more for victims of sexual violence in a day than Musk could do in a lifetime, is especially sickening.
However, while Phillips does not deserve an ounce of the vitriol targeted at her for the decision not to support a national inquiry for Oldham Council, the defensive speech by Keir Starmer and the column inches spent on whipping up political debate is a waste of time. We are ignoring the heart of the issue: the victims of sexual abuse.
It feels uncomfortable to equate trauma to a monetary value, but sexual violence does come with a price tag.
Hearing the endless deflections and misinformed statements aimed at ending the “mass rape abomination,” as the always repugnant Nigel Farage has rebranded “grooming gangs,” from people who know zilch about the scale of the CSA crisis is exhausting. My heart is heavy with the effort it takes to combat these ridiculous conversations that do nothing to curb the problem.
This surely short-lived media circus is unlikely to help anyone. “The shocking failures in addressing abuse by organised networks must be addressed, but they mirror a deep, systemic failure to prevent and prosecute in institutions and families across all cultures. We can’t ignore this reality,” Sophie Olson, founder and director of the Flying Child CIC, a nonprofit leading conversations about CSA through survivor-led training and campaigning, tells GLAMOUR.
“Every perpetrator is likely someone’s family member or known to the child, yet as a society, we’ve long turned away from the endemic scale of child sexual abuse because it’s easier to look away.”
“For too long, it has felt that a death toll of women is just something that we have got used to.”
We have failed generation after generation of children by neglecting to confront CSA in all its forms. Two years after a £186.6 million national inquiry conducted by Professor Alexis Jay published its findings, born from four million pieces of evidence and more than 6,000 individual testimonies from victims, only five of its 20 recommendations have been partially or entirely implemented. A grievous failing that has undoubtedly endangered innumerable children.
Conservative figureheads calling for a national inquiry into grooming gangs refuse to acknowledge that their government ignored these actionable items and are responsible for the consequences. Our new Labour government is not free from guilt either. While they’ve now promised to implement the inquiry’s recommendations, this decision was only publicised on January 6th following the media furore. I dare to feel a glimmer of hope with this response, but considering their U-turn track record in just six months of office, it’s hard to stay optimistic.
All I see is the weaponisation of children’s trauma to further political agendas. Few seem to care about the rampant sexual violence being committed against children every day. Many are performing to the media, ensuring they don’t get slandered for “not caring enough” during the scandal’s moment in the sun; this momentary enthusiasm for the cause will surely fade when the public’s attention moves on.
A better world is possible.
Hearing from Jess Phillips is always heartening, though, as she never fails to get to the core of the issue. She tells GLAMOUR: “This government is firmly committed to tackling child sexual abuse in all its forms and is rapidly working through the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse’s recommendations and implementing them.
“We have now outlined commitments to introduce a mandatory duty for those working with children to report sexual abuse and exploitation, making grooming an aggravating factor to toughen up sentencing, but we plan to go further and will not stop until we have delivered meaningful change for victims impacted by these despicable crimes.”
CSA must never be used as a political tool. CSA, in every disgusting variation, is an unchecked crisis that must be brought under control. An estimated 11 million survivors of CSA live in the UK, many of whom live without any mental health support and face a lifetime of lower earnings and higher chances of addiction and suicide.
On average, it takes a survivor 22 years to disclose their abuse. In the year ending March 2019, police in England and Wales recorded a staggering 73,260 sexual offences where the victim was a child. Figures estimate that anywhere from one in four to one in twenty children will experience sexual abuse in the UK—some estimate this figure to be far higher due to many survivors never disclosing their experiences to authorities. Likely, at least a quarter of our classrooms, offices, and streets are occupied by victims living in silence, without support, wondering if the next generation will be protected.
It’s been six months since Labour came into power, and we're still waiting to see how things will change for women and girls.
So, yes, it’s essential that we tackle CSA, but not like this. Please, not as a political manouevere or as fuel thrown on the fires of racist retorts. “Governments talk about protecting children, but real protection means listening to survivors and acting on what they’ve been telling us for years,” Chief Executive of NAPAC Gabrielle Shaw tells GLAMOUR.
“The recent progress on mandatory reporting is a step forward, but without proper funding for support services, survivors are still being left to cope alone. At NAPAC, we hear from survivors every day who are ready to heal but can’t access the specialist help they need. This isn’t just about recovery; it's about giving people their lives back.”
Inquiries have been conducted, charities have proposed actions to reduce this spiraling epidemic, and still, little is being done. Enough is enough. I could’ve been saved from abuse by better education in schools and for parents. I could’ve been offered effective counselling on the NHS. I could’ve been provided more support from social services when I reported the abuse. But I wasn’t. Too many survivors echo my experiences, and too many of us are watching in horror as our trauma is bandied about to secure the wittiest quote on the front page.
We do not need to waste precious capital on turning over the same subjects and research to come to conclusions drawn from previous inquiries. We need action that protects children, creates safe spaces for disclosure, ensures better treatment for survivors, and holds perpetrators to account. Not when it’s politically convenient, now.
If you are worried that you or someone you know is being groomed, you can access Victim Support’s Children and Young People Services. You can contact your nearest Victim Support office, call the 24/7 Supportline, contact them via live chat, or if you are 16 or older, you can create a My Support Space account.
For more information and support around child sexual abuse, whether recent or historic, you can visit the CSA Centre, Barnados, and Rape Crisis.
The resources and helplines you need to know.
