Child sex abuse and grooming gangs: What we know, and what we don't, from the data

8 January 2025, 11:05 | Updated: 8 January 2025, 14:59

The first thing we know for sure is that we don't know everything. The data on these sorts of crimes has been getting better but is still far from perfect.

Any data ultimately relies on victims or survivors reporting what's happened to them to relevant authorities, and then for those authorities to not only take these reports seriously but also record them correctly.

For many reasons - stigma, mistrust in authorities, the influence of a perpetrator - we know victims often don't report crimes, or wait several years to do so. So any recent snapshot is always going to be incomplete.

On top of this, not all authorities record the same data about perpetrators and victims, such as the relationship between them or their ethnicity.

Caveats aside, the best and most thorough recent reports come from the Vulnerability Knowledge and Practice Programme (VKPP) - covering all related crimes recorded in 2022 - and its sister organisation, the Hydrant Programme - which reported specifically on "group-based" child sexual abuse that happened in 2023.

Both organisations are associated with the National Police Chiefs' Council, and their reports collate and analyse data recorded by every police force in England and Wales.

What do the reports tell us who the offenders are?

The ethnicity of offenders has got lots of attention recently, thanks to historical examples of predominantly Pakistani grooming gangs brought back into the spotlight by the likes of Elon Musk and Robert Jenrick.

In terms of group-based offences, 85% of suspects are white, while 7% are Asian and 5% are black.

According to the 2021 census, 82% of the England and Wales population is white, compared with 9% Asian, 4% black and 2% mixed/other.

The ethnicity of perpetrators and victims was only recorded in 29% of cases, and we also know many cases are not recorded at all, so it's difficult to be too conclusive about over and under-representation. But there's enough evidence to rule out the idea that this is a problem unique to any one ethnic group.

Researchers believe underreporting is more severe among victims who are boys, come from minority communities or migrant groups, and those with disabilities.

As for the victims, children in the mixed/other ethnic group are the most over-represented when it comes to group-based child sexual abuse - 8% of victims come from this group compared with 5% from the wider population.

In 2023, 85% of group-based child sexual abuse victims were white, slightly higher than the population average, while 3% of victims were Asian and 4% were black.

Group-based abuse

The abuse carried out by grooming gangs is categorised as "group-based", meaning two or more perpetrators were involved in the same crime.

Less than 5% of total recorded child sexual abuse crimes were categorised as group-based in 2022 or 2023. In 2023 there were 4,228 such crimes recorded.

About three-quarters of group-based crimes involved two perpetrators.

About two-thirds of cases were related to "contact" abuse - for example rape, sexual assault and sexual activity involving a child. The remainder were "online" abuse, mostly carried out by perpetrators who were strangers to the victim.

Children aged 10-17 accounted for 48% of group-based abuse suspects, while adult perpetrators made up 43%. One in ten suspects of group-based child abuse were aged under 10.

Sexual abuse in a family environment

The most widespread form of child sexual abuse, and also the form researchers believe is most likely to go underreported, takes place in a family environment. That doesn't necessarily mean abuse by family members or at home, but in any relationship or setting typically mediated by family members.

The VKPP says the average time to report such abuse is 17 years.

These examples aren't necessarily distinct from group-based offences or child-on-child offences. Abuse by a friend, cousin or sibling make up four in ten such offences and many of these will be committed by people also aged under 18.

Parents, including step or foster parents, are responsible for three in ten offences, while "familial" connections, including family friends, make up almost two in ten perpetrators.

Looking at all child sexual abuse offences, including those that didn't take place in a familial setting, four in five victims knew their abuser, while one in five incidents were committed by a stranger.

Child-on-child abuse

More than half (52%) of reports of child sexual abuse involve children offending against other children. The most common age for either a perpetrator or victim is 14 years old.

Some of these examples will involve sexual activity or the consensual sharing of indecent images between people of the same age, with no indication of coercion.

Given the age of consent for sexual activity in the UK is 16, and that it is illegal to share indecent images or videos of under-18s, doing this is against the law but is typically viewed as a less serious offence than others.

Police take a "common sense" approach to these types of crimes, balancing individual circumstances with the need to safeguard children.

But the most common offences committed by children on children are not in this category.

Sexual assault on a female accounts for 15% of child-on-child sexual abuse, while rape of a female under 16 accounts for 12% - about one in eight.

The third most common offence is "taking, making and sharing indecent images".

Read more:
Grooming gangs scandal timeline
Victims can have national inquiry if they want one, Jess Phillips says

The gender split

There is a massive gender divide among perpetrators of child sexual abuse: 82% of perpetrators are men, almost five times the amount of women.

The difference is even more stark when it comes to "contact" child sexual abuse offences, including rapes, sexual assault and sexual activity involving a child. Nine in ten perpetrators are men.

When it comes to offences related to indecent images of children, the divide is much closer - 47% of perpetrators are women and 53% are men. Part of the reason for this is because it's an offence to create and send an indecent image of yourself if you are below the age of 18.

The victims are also overwhelmingly female - accounting for 79% of overall victims, 78% of group-based victims and 68% of online victims.

Cases increase - and are expected to rise again

In 2022 there were almost 107,000 crimes recorded by police in England and Wales, up from less than 100,000 in 2021 and just 20,000 in 2013.

In 2023 it rose to 115,489, and is expected to have risen again in 2024.

Much of the rise in recorded crimes is thanks to better recording and reporting processes from the police, rather than more crimes taking place, although it's difficult to tell exactly where the balance lies.

In 2022, almost a third of total crimes were online, with 27% related to the sharing of indecent images and 5% related to grooming.

Almost three-quarters of offences were "contact", including more than 20,000 rapes, 27,000 sexual assaults and 20,000 cases of sexual activity involving a child.

Cases of online child sexual abuse and exploitation have been increasing year-on-year, and there are examples of perpetrators using AI and deep fake technology to create indecent images of children.

The National Crime Agency, in a separate report to the two we've mostly reported from above, estimate that up to 830,000 adults in the UK - equivalent to 1.6% of the adult population or one in every 62 people - pose some degree of sexual risk to children.

The Data and Forensics team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite images, social media and other open source information. Through multimedia storytelling we aim to better explain the world while also showing how our journalism is done.