Sharp increase in UK child sexual abuse during pandemic

Children’s homes warn of struggle to keep residents safe as more time spent online puts young people at greater risk

Lockdown was supposed to make us all safer and save lives. But for some vulnerable young people the opposite has been true.

Sajid Javid, the former chancellor, warned last month that isolation was creating a “perfect storm” for child sexual abuse. With most pupils not back at school before September, children are spending more time online, putting them at greater risk of being targeted by strangers through social media, apps and gaming. And, although lockdown is easing, children now face the long summer holidays with few adults outside the family to spot if something is going seriously wrong.

Related: Watchdog reveals 8.8m attempts to access online child abuse in April

Related: Vulnerable children 'suffer alone' in UK lockdown with schools shut

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from Children | The Guardian https://ift.tt/38Di5gi