One in five children ‘know a victim of sexual exploitation’

Thursday 10 March 2022

One in five children and young people know someone who they think is a victim of child sexual exploitation, a survey has found.

The finding featured in the Children and Young People’s Survey 2021 released this week.

Produced by Statistics Jersey, the survey explains that child sexual exploitation is “a form of abuse where children or young people are tricked, bribed or persuaded to take part in sexual activity in return for something they want or need.”

"This can happen online or offline," it continues: "The things young people might be given in return can include attention, affection, food, cigarettes, money, drugs, alcohol or somewhere to stay.

"The sexual activity might include sending or viewing sexual images, sexual conversations, or some kind of sexual contact. The person getting the young person to do this, may be an adult or another young person."

The survey found that there had been a significant increase in the number of children reporting knowing someone who had been abused in this way - in 2018 and 2019, the figure stood at 15%.

That increase was largely driven by girls in Years 10 and 12.

The survey also revealed that one in three female students has been subjected to inappropriate comments or unwanted sexual attention in the last year in Jersey, compared to just one in 10 boys.

Pupils in fee-paying schools (28%) were more likely to have experienced such behaviour than non-fee paying schools (23%).

It comes following a wave of reports from Jersey College for Girls about sexual harassment and assaults in the wake of Sarah Everard's death.

Anonymous surveys into misogyny, sexism and sexual harassment conducted by the school last year revealed 55 potential crimes - ranging from "low level" verbal abuse to an allegation of rape.

The JCG students mentioned that the shared walking routes and shared facilities in the sixth form – which include the sports facilities at Langford - meant that harassment was a "daily experience."

"I knew someone (a boy) would shout something at me," one student said. "You couldn't avoid it. I rarely walk that way anymore because of this."

Express will be providing further analysis of the Children and Young People Survey 2021 and its results in the coming days.

You can read the survey in full HERE.