An independent review has been commissioned following the arrests of nine men over the sexual exploitation of girls in the Bradford district since 2001.

It has recently come to light that the ‘cover up culture’ of Lambeth Council has led to more than 700 children in South London suffering cruelty and sexual abuse.

7,710 children are looked after away from home in Wales, which is the highest proportion of children in the UK. In July 2020, 0.67% of children in England were looked after away from home, which is the lowest in comparison to Northern Ireland (0.77%), Scotland (1.06%) and Wales (1.14%).

Childhood trauma can have long term physical, psychological and behavioural consequences. A child will likely experience trauma if they have been subject to physical, emotional or sexual abuse, domestic abuse in the household or substance misuse.

The Ministry of Justice and Access to Justice Foundation have announced they have allocated £3.1 million funding to help people representing themselves in court. The funding has been granted to provide support at national, regional and local levels.

Following on from child exploitation day we are focusing on spreading awareness of the life-long effects of child abuse. Child neglect is one of the most common forms of child mistreatment.

On 18 March 2021 it is the National Child Exploitation Awareness Day, a day dedicated to helping to raising awareness of Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) and wider exploitation. We are encouraged to think, spot and speak out against abuse, so would you give child a voice? #StopCSE. #HelpingHands

On 1 March 2021 Dame Rachel de Souza took up her appointments as the new Children’s Commissioner for England and she replaces Anne Longfield OBE who held the post since 2015.