Update: 06 January 2022
Since the NSPCC’s Report Abuse in Education helpline was launched on April 1 2021 (to the end of December), it has handled a total of 979 contacts. The latest data update from the NSPCC shows 176 of these contacts resulted in a referral to an external agency such as police, local authorities and the NHS.
Where information about the caller was known 172 of these contacts were from an adult or child victim, of which 92 were female, 73 male, 2 transgender and the remaining 5 were unknown. Meanwhile 104 contacts were from a parent concerned about their child.
The NSPCC announced last month that they will keep the helpline open for the foreseeable future to continue providing emotional support and practical guidance to anyone who has suffered sexual abuse or harassment in an educational setting, recently or further back in the past, and for people with similar concerns for someone else.
Our Report Abuse in Education helpline has received 721 contacts in six months.
The Report Abuse in Education helpline was launched on 1 April 2021 after thousands of testimonies of sexual abuse and harassment, mostly perpetrated by other young people, were posted on the Everyone’s Invited site.
Helpline staff have been on hand to help victims of recent and non-recent abuse make reports, signpost to recovery, advise professionals on how to handle safeguarding incidents and support concerned parents.
Funded by The Department for Education, it has been announced the helpline will continue to run until at least the end of the year to carry on providing emotional support and practical guidance.
Our latest monthly data shows 129 contacts received through the helpline were serious enough to be referred to an external agency, such as the police, local authorities or the NHS.
Where information about the caller was known 130 contacts were from adult or child victims, of which:
- 78 were female
- 45 were male
- Two were transgender
- 5 were unknown
Meanwhile, 74 of the contacts were from parents with concerns about their child.
We have responded to incidents of sexual name calling, unwanted sexual touching, sexual assault and rape by other pupils as well as online abuse such as sharing nude images without consent.
Many victims who reported non-recent abuse said they felt they could not report it at the time or they tried and weren’t listened to. Parents have also been in touch with concerns about the way schools handled safeguarding incidents, including discouraging victims from taking action against the perpetrator out of fear it would ruin their education and life prospects.
Our helpline team have also provided school staff with advice on how to support children involved in incidents of sexual abuse and harassment.
