Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the cost to the individual of becoming a victim of childhood sexual abuse.

There is a range of evidence pointing to the devastating and life-long impacts of child sexual abuse on victims. For example, data from the Crime Survey for England and Wales shows that 23% of the adults surveyed who experienced sexual assault as a child went on to experience sexual assault as an adult (this compares to 3% of adults who did not report sexual assault as a child but who became victims of the offence as an adult). The same survey indicates that adults with a long-term illness or disability are significantly more likely to have experienced abuse during childhood than those without such a condition

We know that child sexual abuse can impact on every element of a victim’s life, including physical and mental health, relationships, educational attainment and employment. For that reason, this Government is committed to ensuring that all victims of sexual abuse and exploitation feel they can come forward, knowing that they will get the specialist support they need to help them cope with and, as far as possible, recover from the abuse they have suffered.