Online Safety Bill must go further to stop child sexual abuse

  • The NSPCC is urging the government to go further with the Online Safety Bill to tackle grooming and child abuse.
  • Research from the charity has shown reports of online child sexual abuse to the police have risen by over a quarter since 2018.
  • The NSPCC are recommending a clampdown on ‘breadcrumbing’ in which offenders use social media to form networks, advertise sexual interest in children and signpost to child abuse content hosted on other sites.
  • You can read the full story on the Police Professional’s website.

Immigration laws ‘will have massively detrimental impact’

  • Nine child protection and anti-trafficking groups say that the new Nationality and Borders Bill will have a massively detrimental impact on exploited children.
  • The government has been urged not to let an “adult-focused agenda take priority over children’s rights”.
  • Charities warn the new laws will leave children at greater risk of being unidentified, unprotected, and penalised.
  • You can read the full story on the Herald’s website.

Children accidentally coming across far-right material

  • Teachers at the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT) report that children are accidentally coming across far-right material online.
  • They stated that children’s access to social media and smartphones leave them more at risk of being exposed to extremist material than ever.
  • Teachers claim that the pandemic has increased the risk for young people, who were forced to spend more time online during lockdown.
  • You can read the full story on The Guardian’s website.

Sharp increase in proportion of trafficked children missing from care

  • Research has shown the proportion of trafficked children who go missing from local authority care has increased by a quarter over two years.
  • The Nationality and Borders Bill will reduce identification and protection for child victims of trafficking.
  • The number of trafficked children has increased from 960 to 1231 from 2018 to 2020, with charities warning this is likely an indicator of re-trafficking.
  • You can read the full story on the Children and Young People Now’s website.

The Family Sex Show cancelled amid threats and abuse at staff

  • A sex education theatre show aimed at children have been cancelled after the venue received ‘unprecedented threats and abuse’.
  • The show would have featured non-sexual nudity and explored topics including consent, pleasure, queerness and gender.
  • More than 38,000 people signed a petition calling for its cancellation, claiming the show was profoundly irresponsible and inappropriate.
  • The creators of the show have now cancelled its whole tour.
  • You can read the full story on the BBC’s website.