Teenage boys targeted as hotline sees ‘heartbreaking’ increase in child ‘sextortion’ reports
- Data published by the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) showed that in 2023, 176 reports of sexual extortion contained child sexual abuse material – over eight times the previous year.
- Boys are targeted most often in the reports received by the IWF, and three in five reports involved 16 and 17-year-olds.
- Most of the reports (93%) came through the Report Remove service run jointly by the IWF and Childline.
- For more, please visit the IWF website.
Protect children from crime gangs, expert urges
- Thousands of children are at risk of being groomed and coerced into crime by organised gangs, according to Prof Alexis Jay, who revealed the extent of sexual exploitation in Rotherham.
- She reported there was no national plan to deal with child criminal exploitation and has called for new legislation.
- Prof Jay reported that vulnerable children from poor backgrounds or lacking social confidence were befriended and rewarded for working for the gangs, and children with mental-health problems were at particular risk.
- For more, please visit the BBC News website.
NI education: More than 1,000 special need pupils need school place
- The Department of Education (DE) has identified more than 1,000 children with Special Educational Needs (SEN) who need a school place in September.
- Education Minister, Paul Givan, told MLAs that the current system with SEN was “quite simply no longer sustainable”.
- He has called for more funding to be available to tackle the problem, and stated trust needs to be restored in the system with children, parents and teachers.
- For more, please visit the BBC News website.
