Child sex abuse victims face ‘agonisingly long waits’ for justice
Victims of child sexual abuse face “excruciatingly long waits” to get justice, with nearly 7,000 cases stuck in the court system, a new study has found.
The NSPCC said the number of child sexual abuse and exploitation offense cases awaiting trial, trial or sentencing had risen by 9 per cent in a year.
The charity found that the number of cases in the system across England and Wales was 6,989 by March, with the figure rising to 6,399 in the 12 months to March 2024.
Data shared with the NSPCC by the Ministry of Justice also showed that victims of such abuse wait an average of 10 months between charging the defendant and completing the case.
The NSPCC said the waiting period for cases of rape of a child aged 13 to 15 had increased to around 18 months.
The charity called on the Government to invest in treatment support for children, saying such long waits could cause “serious anxiety and worry in children who have already suffered serious trauma” and delay their access to support.
Maria Neophytou of the NSPCC said: “No one should have to wait an agonizingly long time for their case to go to court and reach a resolution, but this is especially true for child victims of sexual abuse and exploitation.
“Not only do these waits cause serious worry and anxiety for children who have already suffered significant trauma, they can also delay young victims from accessing the support they need to begin to recover from abuse.
“We want the government to use its imminent response to the Leveson Inquiry to help ensure more young witnesses’ cases come through the courts by creating a contingency plan to tackle the remaining backlog and reduce delays for child victims.
“Too many children still do not have access to the support they need to rebuild their lives following sexual abuse, which is why we are calling on the Government to invest in therapeutic support for children and commission local agencies to commission specialist support through the Victims and Courts Bill.
The specialist Center for Child Sexual Abuse (CSA Centre) described the increase in such cases coming to court as “encouraging” but said “system-wide change is sorely needed to ensure victims and survivors receive the timely outcomes and ongoing support they need”.
Ian Dean, director of the centre, said: “The annual increase in clear cases of child sexual abuse is a worrying trend reminiscent of previous reports and reviews which have consistently highlighted increasing delays in recent years.
“Our own analysis has found that there is a waiting period of almost two years between the recording of child sexual abuse by the police and the time the case ends up in court, and that this period is significantly longer for rape offences.
“We have also seen that support services for those affected by child sexual abuse are at breaking point, with thousands of children and adults waiting months or even years to access support.
“We estimate that one in 10 people will experience abuse before the age of 16; such delays can worsen the pain and long-term effects of this abuse.”
