A recent investigation by the BBC's Panorama highlighted the true scale of the issue of child sexual abuse inflicted by other children - so-called "peer on peer" abuse.
Figures obtained by the BBC from the police indicated that this form of abuse is increasing significantly with reports of offences rising from 4,603 in 2013 to 7,866 last year - a staggering increase of 71 per cent.
Previous research has found that a third of all child sexual abuse is committed by other children. It is not fully understood why these children sexually harm others but we know that around half who do so have experienced abuse themselves.
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