The NSPCC have released some revealing and rather disturbing data following a freedom of information request to 45 police authorities across Britain.
As a result of continued publicity and awareness campaigns, survivors of child abuse are coming forward in greater numbers. But the figures suggest many hundreds of thousands of cases go unreported. The actual number of reported child sex crimes in the last 12 months totalled 45,456, or 124 cases per day. This showed a sharp increase of 31% compared to the year before where only 31,238 reports were formally recorded.
Perhaps the most shocking statistics related to those victims who were classified as being at the pre-school age, around 2400 cases involving under 4's were recorded within the police data.
Useful resources
Compensation advice for victims of sexual abuse
Compensation advice for rape victims