Offences against Children

(asked on 16th October 2019) - View Source

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Answer of 8 October 2019 to Question 284692 on Offences against Children, whether the national strategy on child sexual abuse will be published this year.


Answered by
Victoria Atkins Portrait
Victoria Atkins
Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
This question was answered on 25th October 2019

Our extensive efforts to tackle child sexual abuse (CSA) are already drawing this hidden crime out of the shadows and we are identifying more offenders and safeguarding more victims than ever before. However, we need to ensure that our response keeps up with the evolving nature of the threat. This is why we have publicly committed to develop a first of its kind, cross-government strategy on tackling all forms of CSA by the end of this year.

The strategy will galvanise efforts at the local, national and international level to prevent, tackle and respond to all forms of child sexual abuse, driving a whole-system response to the problem. It will set out our ambition for the £30 million additional funding secured by the Home Secretary in the recent spending round, including our investment in cutting-edge technology and the best intelligence and law enforcement capabilities.

It will also outline how we will continue to galvanise industry to bear down on the online threat and lead international efforts to tackle what is a cross-border crime, including through the Five Country Ministerial and the UK-funded WePROTECT Global Alliance Summit.

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