Children left at risk as agencies are too afraid to talk about sexual abuse in families, report warns

Efforts to protect vulnerable children are being hampered because agencies are too afraid to talk about sexual abuse within families, according to a damning report.

Children who are sexually abused by family members are going “unseen and unheard” by many agencies – including police officers and social workers, a group of leading inspectorates have warned.

Strategies to prevent sexual abuse of children at home are almost non-existent due to a reluctance to discuss the topic, which has left children too often repeatedly victimised and perpetrators unidentified.

The report examines how well the children’s social care, health, youth offending, police and probation services are working together to safeguard children sexually abused in the family environment.

It found that “poor-quality criminal investigations” of child sexual abuse in the family, including significant delays, are leaving too many children at risk of further harm from suspected perpetrators.

In one case, the family member who the child disclosed had sexually abused her was not interviewed until four weeks after the disclosure.

And the police have removed bail conditions placed on suspects, which has left them free to contact and return to live with the children they were accused of abusing.

Children have also been left without medical treatment for possible sexually transmitted infections and other injuries because the police did not involve health professionals when leading on the cases.

The report, from Ofsted, HM Inspectorate of Probation, HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services and the Care Quality Commission, examined the protection of children from sexual abuse within the family in Bracknell Forest, Cornwall, Derby City, Islington, Shropshire and York.

While agencies have improved their response to child grooming outside the home, the less high-profile issue of familial sex abuse is not getting the priority it needs, the report found.

Research shows that the majority of parents focus their discussions on “stranger-danger” fears.

And yet, around two-thirds of child sexual abuse takes place within the family environment, according to an inquiry by England’s children’s commissioner in 2015.

Inspectors say the true figure could be even higher due to underreporting. “We can no longer stay silent on this issue. We have to talk about it and act,” the report concludes.

Amanda Spielman, chief inspector of Ofsted, said: “As a society, we are far too reluctant to talk about sex abuse within the family home. It’s much easier to think of abuse happening elsewhere, to other people.

“Prevention is the best form of protection. If we are to deal with incest or other abuse involving families or family friends, we must talk openly and honestly about the signs and symptoms – to protect children and to stop abusers in their tracks.

She added: “As it stands, children abused in the home are going unseen and unheard because agencies simply aren’t capable of keeping them safe. The lack of national and local focus on this issue is deeply concerning and must be addressed.”

Wendy Williams, HM Inspector of Constabulary, said: “We believe that the police and other agencies do not prioritise this kind of abuse highly enough. This results in missed opportunities to safeguard vulnerable and at-risk children.”

Ursula Gallagher, deputy chief inspector of general practice and children’s health, said: “The impact of abuse is far-reaching and has a lasting effect on the child and those around them – this report highlights too many missed opportunities to better protect them from harm.”

A Government spokesperson said: “We are taking urgent action to tackle these crimes and will soon be publishing a first of its kind national strategy to tackle child sexual abuse, better support victims and improve collaboration between the government, agencies and law enforcement.

“Alongside work to better safeguard children new sentencing laws will see serious sexual offenders spending longer behind bars and we are recruiting 20,000 extra police officers to bring more abusers to justice.”