Barnardo’s to stop using film about murder and child rape

BARNARDO’S has announced it will no longer use films depicting girls being raped and murdered to teach children as young as 11 about sexual abuse, following complaints that the material risks causing youngsters “serious harm”.

The leading children’s charity has confirmed to The Daily Telegraph that it has stopped showing “videos that depict abuse as education aids”, and acknowledged “it can cause trauma” after an investigation found pre-teens were being made to watch the videos of a girl being groomed, raped and murdered.

Kayleigh’s Love Story is based on the real-life case of 15-year-old Kayleigh Haywood who was killed in 2015. Shown to 55,000 children as young as 11, the film ends with the victim’s body being identified by her grief-stricken parents in a morgue.

Barnardo’s originally called in 2016 for the film to be shown in all secondary schools in the UK, but the charity will now no longer use the film.

It is a move welcomed by Jessica Eaton, a psychologist and sexual violence researcher whose “No More CSE Films” report claims the videos could be “causing serious harm to children”.

Leicestershire Police said its screenings of Kayleigh’s Love Story were in the presence of specially trained staff with the agreement and support of teachers and parents and have led to children coming forward with disclosures about abuse. A spokesman added that they have never had any complaints about the film or requests from parents to remove children from screenings.

Barnardo’s said: “We understand the complexity of risk and abuse that children experience and our knowledge of how to keep children and young people safe from harm is growing all the time.”