Why reports of sex offences against children are on the rise

The number of sexual assaults against children recorded by police has seen a "huge jump" of more than a third in the space of a year, according to research by the NSPCC.

The child protection charity says 31,238 allegations of sexual offences against children, such as rape, assault and grooming, were made in England and Wales in 2013/14.

This marks a 38 per cent increase on the previous year and suggests police are recording at least 85 sexual assaults against children every day. The number has increased by almost 50 per cent in five years.

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The NSPCC has urged the government to ensure children are given the help and support they need.

But why has the number increased so much?

The Savile effect

The Guardian says the figures provide "more evidence" of an increase in reports of sexual offences following the Jimmy Savile scandal, which first emerged in 2012. The high-profile case has encouraged more victims to come forward because they are now more confident that they will be believed, police experts told the newspaper. Other cases in Rotherham, Rochdale and Oxford have also prompted young people to speak out about abuse, experts said.

Increased police focus

Improved police recording methods were seen as another reason for the increase. Jon Brown, senior policy officer for the NSPCC, said the police are now "really bearing down and focusing on this sort of offending a lot more", which is leading to higher confidence and more reporting. Child sex abuse has also been prioritised by the government as a "national threat" in the same way as serious and organised crime.

Internet

Experts have described the internet as a "facilitator of abuse". Simon Bailey, chief constable of Norfolk and the national police lead on child abuse, said the web had "given people the ability to sit in their room and indulge fantasies in a way that simply was not available to them two decades ago".

Tip of the iceberg

Chief constable Bailey said police are dealing with an "unprecedented" number of investigations, but that he believed "more abuse is being perpetrated". The NSPCC's chief executive Peter Wanless has also suggested that the current figures are just the tip of the iceberg. "These figures are disturbing and clearly illustrate child sexual abuse is a continuing and widespread problem that needs urgent action," he said. "But we know this is still only a fraction of the true number of victims because some endure an agonising wait of many years before telling anyone – and others never reveal what has happened to them."