Girls' courage could break cycle of sex abuse, says Shropshire charity

New figures show that more women are coming forward looking for help, helped by the issue being highlighted through high profile scandals.

Last week it emerged that the number of young victims abused in the South Yorkshire town of Rotherham may run to more than 1,400, leading to high-profile resignations.

The publication last week of Professor Alexis Jay's report into grooming by Muslim gangs in the South Yorkshire town has triggered criticism over how much the council and the police knew about the abuse.

This week the Shropshire Star highlighted the problem in Telford, with one victim speaking of how she was frequently abused as a child, dating back to 2001.

See also:

• Telford victim: 'Abusers stole my childhood'

• Rise in child sex exploitation cases reported across Shropshire

• Council: We acted promptly on Telford child sex abuse claims

• Star comment: Our duty to protect children

Previously, West Mercia Police has said that up to 200 men from across the country may have been involved in a child sex ring working out of Telford – with a "huge percentage of them" still unidentified.

More than 100 girls were identified by officers in Operation Chalice as being targeted by the ring, although it is not known precisely how many were victims of sexual abuse.

Latest statistics from Shropshire Council show there were 39 cases referred to Shropshire Council's child sex exploitation panel from April 2013 to March this year.

That is an increase of 44 per cent on the 27 cases reported to the panel between April 2012 and March last year.

Council chiefs today called on people to look out for and report suspected cases of child sex exploitation in the county.

They believe the publicity brought by Operation Chalice in Telford and the latest scandal of sex exploitation in Rotherham may encourage more victims to come forward.

High profile cases involving celebrities like Jimmy Savile, Max Clifford and Rolf Harris have also shown victims that their voices can be heard.

A report into lessons learned following investigations into a child sex ring in Telford, which eventually led to seven men being jailed last year, found youth workers warned police officers and social workers there was a problem in 2006. The four women who gave evidence against the seven men as part of the Operation Chalice investigation said they had been abused between 2007 and 2009.

Experts in helping women who have been abused say the problem is not isolated to towns like Telford and Rotherham, but rather one that spreads across the UK involving vulnerable young girls.

Liza Morgan, chief executive officer of Axis, a county charity which provides support for victims of sexual abuse, said she hopes that the courage that girls in Telford and Rotherham have shown will help other victims to break the cycle of abuse.

"I think any media coverage regarding sex abuse, rape or sexual assault is very valuable.

"With trafficking or sexual exploitation, it is very useful for victims to be able to know that we are all there and I think it does encourage them to come forward."

Mrs Morgan said the charity, based at the Glebe Centre in Wellington, worked with some of the Telford girls who had been victims of the Operation Chalice gang.

"For Operation Chalice the police did seek us out to take girls on to support them because they recognised that they did need support and were keen to get them a much help as possible," she explained

"The police were very good at doing that as well.

"I think it is good because if victims of sexual abuse hear of all the support these people have been given they will be more likely to come forward and more cycles will be broken."

She added that the most important thing for victims of sexual abuse was for them to know that they would be taken seriously if they came forward for help.

Mrs Morgan said: "It is so important that these girls know that they will be heard and they will be listened to.

"Being heard and being believed is so important to victims of abuse.

"If you put yourself in that position it is quite frightening.

"They need to know that the police will do all they can to protect them and I know in Shropshire that was certainly the case.

"If other victims hear of the other girls and how the police protected them, they will know that they can protect them to."

Mrs Morgan added that she thinks there should be more done to make sure women and girls understand what constitutes exploitation, so they will feel less afraid to report instances of abuse.

She said: "I think that some of the young girls don't understand exploitation so it is also about educating everybody to understand.

"There needs to be education in schools, education everywhere and media cover which does help victims to come forward."

• For information about Axis visit www.axiscounselling.org.uk