Sex calls to Childline increase

THE number of children and young people in Wales who have contacted Childline about child sexual exploitation has risen by more than a quarter in the past year, new figures reveal.

The Childline Annual Review 2018-19 shows that 167 Welsh youngsters called the free and confidential counselling service last year – up from 133 the year before – with concerns about child sexual exploitation.

The number could be higher as 877 children and young people did not state their country of origin when contacting the NSPCC-supported service.

The yearly report also reveals there were 394 contacts to Childline from Wales on the issue of child sexual abuse.

Across the UK, the 12 Childline bases – including centres in Cardiff and Prestatyn – delivered 4,500 counselling sessions to children and young people who were coerced or forced into sexual activity – an increase of 16% on the 2017-18 annual review.

As child sexual exploitation is one aspect of child sexual abuse, it featured in more than half of the total number of UK-wide counselling sessions (8,841) about sexual abuse.

In more than a third of counselling sessions young people disclosed they were targeted online – usually through social media or video games – often by their peers or people known to them.

Most commonly children received help from Childline because they were forced to perform or watch sexual acts or had been persuaded into sending naked images or videos of themselves – some were threatened with the images, being told they would be shared with friends and family.

In Wales, the Welsh Government has committed to overhauling education about healthy relationships, with the inclusion of compulsory relationships and sexuality education as part of the curriculum from 2022.