Scale & nature of abuse
To tackle child sexual abuse, we need to understand its causes, scope, scale, and impact. Our research establishes what we know about child sexual abuse, and what gaps still exist in our knowledge.
Data Insights Hub
Our new Data Insights Hub is an interactive online dashboard that gives instant access to local and national data on child sexual abuse in England and Wales. Try it now and build an understanding of the scale of child sexual abuse identified and recorded in your local area.
Trends in official data
Our Trends in official data report provides up to date analysis of the latest official data children’s social care, policing, criminal justice and health to help inform improvements in prevention and response.
Our latest report finds finds children are more likely than adults to be the victims of sexual offences. They are the victims in 40% of all sexual offences – including rape and sexual assault – yet make up just 20% of the population in England & Wales. 2022/23 analysis also highlights that whilst there have been small improvements, the level of child sexual abuse identified by official agencies remains broadly similar to the previous year and some elements of the response, such as numbers of children placed on child protection plans, appears to be getting worse.
Infographics
Explore our infographics presenting key data and latest trends in identification and response to child sexual abuse in accessible graphs and images.
Download and share our infographics today.
A comprehensive account of what we do and do not know about child sexual abuse in England & Wales
Our Scale and nature research discovers and fills gaps in our knowledge, support organisations to improve the data they collect about child sexual abuse, and builds a better understanding of how practice in statutory services affects the level of child sexual abuse identified and recorded. Explore our informative research and resources below.
Scale and nature report
Our 2021 scale and nature report reviewed what we currently do and do not know from existing prevalence studies, alongside the latest official service data for that year. It found the gap between recorded experiences and estimated experiences of child sexual abuse could be widening. Download the full report below.
Improving data on child sexual abuse
Effective decision making to improve identification and responses to child sexual abuse relies on the data we use to inform it. This guide offers much-needed practical advice for organisations about the data they collect on child sexual abuse and how they should record it.
Learning about data collection from practice
Working with services in Wales and Greater Manchester, we examined existing reporting methods to explore how official agency data on child sexual abuse is currently recorded. We reviewed how these could be amended and adjusted to help professionals accurately reflect the scale of care needed.
