Sex abuse calls at new high as ‘people feel empowered’

CALLS to the NSPCC about child sexual abuse have hit a record high following the publicity surge from Everyone’s Invited, the charity has revealed.

The charity received 4,735 calls about child sexual abuse or exploitation over the six months to October – up 36 per cent from the same period in 2020.

More than 1,500 of these contacts led to a referral to bodies such as the police or local councils for further action, according to the data.

These calls have been from people worried that a child is being groomed, sometimes by adults in positions of authority, sexually abused by family members or experiencing sexual harassment and abuse by their peers.

The helpline has also been receiving calls from survivors of non-recent sexual abuse, who said they have come forward following media coverage of violence against women and girls.

This includes the thousands of testimonies sent to the Everyone’s Invited campaign website about incidents in schools and universities.

The NSPCC said people have felt “empowered to voice their concerns” following the disclosures.

It fears that the risk of abuse has risen during the coronavirus pandemic, and noted that helpline calls relating to other concerns have fallen to pre-pandemic levels while concerns about abuse continue to rise.

The figures show the charity was dealing with 26 contacts a day on average, from people concerned about a child, over the first half of the 2021-2 financial year.

One caller recalled how an older boy had touched her inappropriately while she was on the coach back from school as a young girl. She said: “I haven’t spoken to anyone else about this, but I felt compelled after seeing the [news] coverage about violence against women.

“If this happened to me, it could have happened to others too. And who knows, this boy [now man] could still be a risk to children.”

Another person, who was sexually abused by a teacher as a young teenager, said: “I didn’t report him at the time as I worried what would happen, and people not believing me and stuff.

“Now all these stories are coming out in the media, like Everyone’s Invited, it’s brought all the memories up again.”

Kam Thandi, head of the NSPCC helpline, said: “We know people have felt empowered to voice their concerns to our helpline after a surge in publicity about sexual violence towards women and girls and peer-on-peer abuse in schools following the revelations on the Everyone’s Invited website.

“We are also worried that the risk of abuse has gone up since the start of the pandemic, with children more vulnerable and out of sight of the adults who can keep them safe.”