Rochdale parliamentary candidate Simon Danczuk is ‘not surprised’ by a 60% rise in the number of child sex abuse reports across the country over the last four years.
Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper obtained the figures, revealing there were 8,892 reports to police forces in 2014 compared to just 5,557 in 2011.
Danczuk, who has previously spoken out about the child abuse inquiry within Parliament, attributed the rise to more victims feeling able to come forward to the police.
“I’m not surprised by this increase,” he told MM.
“Police in Rochdale have already told me to expect to see the figures go up because there’s a much greater awareness of child abuse now and it’s becoming a much bigger police priority.
“It’s encouraging that more and more people are able to come forward to report this crime, but we need to see more prosecutions and we need to see justice being delivered.”
Danczuk accused certain people of ignoring the issue of child abuse over the past few years and is glad that victims are finally getting justice.
“Child abuse is one of this country’s most shameful secrets and I’m pleased to see its now being dragged out of the shadows and people are slowly waking up to the fact that we’ve turned a blind eye to a massive scandal for far too long,” he said.
National charity Barnardos, who help vulnerable children across the country, called on more adults to spot the signs of child abuse and explained the issue was ‘everyone’s business’.
A spokesperson from the charity said: “Child protection is everyone’s business and it is vital that people are able to spot the signs of child sexual exploitation in order to keep children safe.”
“While it’s good that there is more awareness of child sexual exploitation and child sex abuse and this is resulting in greater reporting of the problem, it’s vital that whenever abuse is reported it is thoroughly investigated by the police and more perpetrators are brought to justice.”
Image courtesy of the Home Office via YouTube, with thanks.
