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Historical Child Sexual Exploitation and Grooming Gangs - Recent News

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Over the last few weeks there has been a lot of media coverage about enquiries into historical child sexual exploitation and grooming gangs. The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) was set up in 2015 and carried out 15 different investigations, which included grooming gangs, mandatory reporting and abuse in school and church settings. This followed separate earlier inquiries into grooming gangs such as an inquiry into grooming gangs in Rotherham in 2014, a West Midlands report in 2015 and a serious case review by Oxfordshire Safeguarding Children’s Partnership in 2015.

IICSA published a report in November 2022 which set out 20 recommendations. Relevant to historical sexual abuse, it was recommended that the UK Government took action to understand the scale of child sexual abuse by compiling and publishing a single core data set covering both England and Wales, which should include the characteristics of victims and alleged perpetrators of child sexual abuse, vulnerability factors and the settings and contexts in which abuse occurs.  A separate standalone report on grooming gangs was also prepared. This report illustrated that survivors of abuse were often blamed by authorities for the ordeals they suffered, and some were even given criminal records for the offences closely linked to their sexual exploitation. The report also highlighted the lack of data, which was available from police and councils, which meant that the current scale of child sexual exploitation could not be known.

In 2022, Greater Manchester’s inquiries into Oldham grooming gangs was released. This found that the police and council failed to protect vulnerable children and covered up their failings. Also, in 2022 the Telford independent inquiry was published and found that more than 1000 children in the town were sexually exploited, and the abuse was allowed to continue for years, with children often blamed. Little steps were taken by the Government to implement IICSA’s recommendations save for in 2023 a Grooming Gangs Taskforce was set up with qualified officers from all 43 police forces in England and Wales and data analysts.

The issue was brought into the forefront of the media recently, when the safeguarding minister rejected calls from Oldham Council for a Government inquiry into historical grooming gangs stating that the Council should lead the inquiry instead.

Following the outcry to this response, the Government have now confirmed that they intend to have a timeline in place by Easter for IICSA’s recommendations to be implemented. They have also announced stronger sentences for child grooming making it an aggravating factor to organise abuse and exploitation.  They will extend the remit of the Independent Child Sexual Abuse Review panel so it covers not just cases before 2013, but all cases, so that any survivor of abuse will have the right to seek an independent review without having to go back to the local institutions who decided not to proceed with their case. 

All National Police Chiefs Councils are being asked to look again at historic gang exploitation cases where “no further action was taken” and work with the Child Sexual Exploitation Taskforce to pursue new lines of inquiry and re-open investigations where appropriate. All police forces will be expected to implement the 2023 recommendations from His Majesty’s Inspectorate, including producing “problem profiles” on the nature of grooming gangs in their area.

Baroness Louise Casey has been asked to oversee a rapid audit of the current scale and nature of gang-based exploitation across the country and to make recommendations on the further work that is needed. The Government have also stated that they support “victim-centred local enquiries. These will take place in Oldham and up to 4 other pilot areas. This announcement by the Home Secretary is welcomed as there is now a clear commitment to act against grooming gangs. There needs to be continued pressure placed on the Government to ensure that they honour the promise they have made to survivors of abuse.

At Jordans we represent clients who have suffered sexual abuse by grooming gangs as children. We can pursue both civil and Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) claims.

Most of the clients we have acted for have suffered the abuse whilst a resident in a children’s home and under the care of the local authority.

We have successfully pursued claims against the local authority for failing in their duty to keep our client’s safe and for allowing them to be exploited by a grooming gang. 

A CICA claim can also be pursued to run alongside a civil claim if a complaint has been made to the police. There is an eligibility criterion which must be met, however, if it can be proven that a person has been the victim of a crime of violence and has suffered a sexual assault to which they did not consent to, they are eligible to make an application for an award of compensation.