Crawley MP, Henry Smith, has renewed his support for an NSPCC campaign, re-launching this week for 2014, which aims to help parents protect their children from sexual abuse. The ‘Underwear Rule’ encourages parents of children aged 5-11 to have simple conversations about staying safe from sexual abuse.
Henry said:
"As a parent with young kids myself, I know that it’s every parent’s worst nightmare to find their child has been touched inappropriately - and no family wants to think it will ever happen to them.
“Sexual abuse, however, continues to be a terrible scar on our society and a huge concern for parents. This is why I support the NSPCC’s Underwear Rule campaign which has helped to give parents and carers the tools and the confidence to help protect children. I’d urge more to get involved and teach their children the Underwear Rule so that keeping safe from sexual abuse becomes an integral part of parents’ conversations about safety with their children, just like the Green Cross Code.
“In addition, I’m backing the Child Maltreatment Bill in Parliament. The criminal law on child neglect has not changed in eighty years. In my view there is no ‘acceptable’ level of suffering for children, and yet our laws in the United Kingdom currently assume that there is. That needs to change - it can’t be the case that the ‘accidental’ neglect of children (that is to say there is nothing ‘wilful’ in the neglect) is not considered a criminal offence, and that no sanctions exist to tackle psychological and emotional child neglect – this is despite expert opinions suggesting that psychological neglect is the most destructive form of abuse.”
The NSPCC is re-running the campaign in response to new figures, which reveal a big increase in the number of reported primary school age victims of sexual abuse. Last year (2012-13) police forces in England and Wales recorded 5,547 child sex crimes against those under- eleven – a near 20 per cent rise on the previous year’s figure of 4,772.
On average, at least one in five of all recorded sexual offences against children involve those too young to attend secondary school.
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