This article has been brought to you by Slough Borough Council's Education Safeguarding Professional, Zarine Power for the attention of all Schools.
Online grooming
The NSPCC has published a news story on online grooming crimes against children in the UK. Figures provided by 45 UK police forces show that 7,062 sexual communication with a child offences were recorded in 2023/24, an increase of 89% since 2017/18. The data also reveals that where a means of communication was known, 48% of offences were on Snapchat; and 81% of grooming cases took place against girls. The NSPCC is calling for Ofcom to strengthen rules for tech platforms to ensure they are proactive and that social media apps do not contribute to abuse; and for the UK Government to strengthen legislation to ensure child sexual abuse is disrupted in private messages such as on Snapchat and WhatsApp.
Read the news story: Online grooming crimes against children increase by 89% in six years and see also Grooming: recognising the signs | NSPCC Learning