Huge increase in child-on-child sex offences

Statistics provided to the charity by police forces in England and Wales show that the number of alleged offences rose from 5,215 in 2013 to 9,290 in 2016.

In total, there were 32,452 reports to police of alleged sexual offences by children on other children over the four-year period - an average of more than 22 every day.
 
The true number could be higher because seven of the 43 forces in England and Wales either did not respond or provided only a partial response.

Last year Barnardo's warned that child-on-child sexual abuse threatened to become the next major child protection issue. It has called for a national inquiry to examine the issue and wants government to develop a national strategy to tackle it.
 
Barnardo's wants age-appropriate sex and relationship education to be made compulsory to better protect children and help them understand consent, respect and what a healthy relationship should look like.
 
Barnardo's chief executive, Javed Khan said: "Barnardo's warned last year that unless child on child sexual abuse is dealt with head on, it may become the next scandal in our society. These results are another wake-up call to the extent of the problem.
 
"We're deeply concerned more children may be sexually harming other children. We know this can be because they've been abused themselves and may not have received the right support to help them recover.
 
"An estimated third of sexual abuse is carried out by children. Rehabilitating children so they don't go on to harm others is vital to preventing further sexual abuse. High-quality age-appropriate mandatory SRE lessons would help children recognise what a healthy relationship should look like."