Crime and victims
Child protection
The protection of our children is of the greatest importance to all of us. There are few crimes more damaging, more emotive and more sensitive than sexual offences against children.
What we're doing to protect children from sex offenders
We have done a lot in recent years to improve protection for children:
- sex offenders must now register with the police, they are visited in their homes, and if they break the rules they are sent back to prison
- we have developed treatment shown to be effective in preventing re-offending
- there are over 100 'approved premises' where high-risk offenders are closely supervised
While these measures have greatly increased public protection from sex offenders, we can still do much more.
New child protection measures to be introduced
The government's report - Review of the protection of children from sex offenders - published in June 2007, lists 20 actions that should be taken to strengthen laws protecting young people from sexual predators.
Key points include:
- piloting a new process allowing parents and guardians to request details of possible sex offenders
- requiring police and probation services to consider in each case whether a child sex offenders' conviction should be disclosed to protect children
- reviewing the use of satellite tracking to monitor high-risk sex offenders
- developing the use of drug treatment to reduce sexual drive in offenders
- piloting compulsory polygraph tests for offenders
- requiring more information from those on the Sex Offenders' Register - including email addresses, and information about their relationships
- promoting community awareness campaigns to educate parents about ways to protect their children from sexual predators
What you can do to help protect children from sex offenders
If you're concerned that a child is in immediate danger, call 999 to report it to the police.
If you are concerned about the welfare of a child, call the NSPCC Child Protection Helpline immediately on 0808 800 5000. The helpline offers advice and support to anyone concerned about the welfare of a child.
It's open 24 hours.
Read our leaflet for parents: 'Keeping children safe from sex offenders'.
