UK's Cameron says child sex abuse to be classified "national threat"
By William James LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister David Cameron will make tackling child sexual abuse a national priority on a par with organised crime on Tuesday, announcing measures to prevent systematic abuse. Britain has been rocked by a series of child sex abuse revelations, including a case in Rotherham, northern England, where some 1,400 children, some as young as 11, were abused by gangs of predominantly Asian men. Classifying child sexual abuse as a national threat will create a duty for police forces to collaborate across regions to safeguard children, Cameron's office said. Cameron will also announce other measures to improve coordination between public bodies and a helpline to encourage whistleblowers. In addition, Cameron will propose criminal sanctions for senior public workers who fail to protect children from abuse, as he speaks to a meeting of victim groups, police and child protection experts in his official London residence. "We have all been appalled at the abuse suffered by so many young girls in Rotherham and elsewhere across the country," Cameron will say, according to extracts released in advance by his office. "Children were ignored, sometimes even blamed, and issues were swept under the carpet – often because of a warped and misguided sense of political correctness. That culture of denial which let them down so badly must be eradicated." The government has begun an inquiry into decades of child abuse and suggestions powerful public figures covered it up. An independent report released on Tuesday criticised authorities in the central English county of Oxfordshire for failing to stop 59 offences of sexual exploitation carried out by seven men between 2005 and 2010. It said over 370 girls had been at risk of sexual exploitation in the area, and included details of how they were plied with drink and drugs and were assaulted, threatened, drugged, raped and sold for sex. Under a separate investigation, British police on Monday charged 10 men with sexual offences, including several involving children, in Rochdale, another northern English town. (Editing by Ralph Boulton)
