Published: Sun 24 Aug 2025
In an urgent letter to the Home Secretary, 10 leading children’s rights groups warn children ‘bear the brunt’ of sexual abuse both on and offline.
Child protection organisations and charities have called on the Government to change course on its flagship Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy after reports child sexual exploitation and abuse would not be within its scope.
In a letter to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, 10 children’s rights organisations and charities have raised their concerns after a recent internal Home Office document suggested victims of child sexual abuse and exploitation will not be “explicitly within the scope" of the strategy.
Labour’s 2024 manifesto pledged to halve violence against women and girls in a decade, and the VAWG Strategy, which had been due to be published this summer, is a key part of this.
Now charities and child protection groups, including the Internet Watch Foundation, the NSPCC, the Centre for Child Sexual Abuse, Internet Matters, Barnardo’s, and the UK Safer Internet Centre, have signed a letter calling for the Government to ensure the forthcoming Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy includes “clear and deliverable objectives” to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse.
According to the letter: “Violence against girls is inseparable from violence against women. VAWG and child sexual abuse are inherently and deeply connected— with shared root causes like gender inequality, misogyny and power imbalances making a co-ordinated and joined-up response essential.
“Children are also disproportionately likely to be victims. Each year, around 500,000 children in England and Wales will experience some form of sexual abuse, and children account for 40% of all victims of sexual offences, despite making up just 20% of the population. This is a worldwide threat, with children overwhelmingly bearing the brunt of sexual violence and abuse both off and online. Victims of child sexual abuse are also more likely to be victims of adult sexual violence and domestic abuse. The Government cannot therefore truly tackle violence against women and girls without tackling the sexual abuse of children.”
In 2024, 97% (278,492) of the reports of child sexual abuse imagery confirmed by the Internet Watch Foundation showed the sexual abuse of only girls, an increase of 14,246 reports since 2023. Moreover, 98% (6,945) of actioned images and videos of AI-generated child sexual abuse material contained imagery of girls.
On top of this, a 2025 report from NSPCC also found that four in five victims of online grooming cases are girls.
Kerry Smith, Chief Executive of the IWF, said: “At the front line of the battle against child sexual exploitation, we see girls are overwhelmingly being targeted and victimised online. We see their suffering in snapshot moments, but the damage from that abuse stays with those children.
“This strategy is a golden opportunity to put those girls at the heart of a real, concerted response to a problem which reaches into every facet of daily life. Failing to do so would be to fail so many victims whose sexual abuse our analysts witness every day and who we work so hard to prevent being revictimised.”
Chris Sherwood, Chief Executive of the NSPCC, said: “Children, especially girls, are disproportionately affected by sexual abuse and exploitation both online and offline. The trauma this can cause doesn’t always end in childhood; it can echo throughout their lives.
"To deliver on their promise to halve violence against women and girls, this strategy must tackle all forms of child abuse. This must include equipping professionals to spot abuse early on, engaging young people so that abuse is prevented in the first place, and improving access to specialist support for all victims.
"We urge the Government to ensure the strategy delivers robust, coordinated action to confront this crisis head on. We owe it to all children to protect them from the full spectrum of harms we know they are experiencing, including sexual abuse and exploitation.”
The letter adds: “As this evidence shows, child sexual exploitation and abuse is a pervasive form of harm that can reach into numerous different areas of children’s lives, from the online world to their own homes and communities. Any serious strategy to address this endemic issue needs to tackle this form of abuse - both on and offline - head on.
“It is vital that the forthcoming Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy includes clear and deliverable objectives to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse. This is critical following the powerful and shocking findings of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Baroness Casey’s Audit of Group Based Child Sexual Exploitation, and the National Child Safeguarding Review Panel’s review of the response to child sexual abuse in the family environment.”
The letter is signed by:
Read the full letter here.
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