Research by a Huddersfield academic shows that the scale of child sexual exploitation (CSE) in the UK may have been exaggerated.

Dr Bernard Gallagher claims CSE is “a relatively rare phenomenon” and that children are actually more at risk from domestic abuse – a whopping 49.6%.

Following revelations about the notorious activities of grooming gangs, child sexual exploitation was dubbed a “national threat” by then-Prime Minister David Cameron. It has since become an issue of massive concern.

But Dr Gallagher, who is Reader in Social Work and Applied Social Sciences at the University of Huddersfield and an expert on child protection, has controversially argued that while CSE can lead to “horrendous abuse”, the scale of the problem might be exaggerated.

He warns that other, more prevalent, forms of maltreatment of children and young people should not be sidelined.

His findings appear in an article entitled Child sexual exploitation – A national threat? published by the National Organisation for the Treatment of Abusers. His statistical analysis shows the marked differences between different forms of child sexual abuse and maltreatment.

The figure for children assessed as being at risk of CSE is 3.9%, whereas domestic violence (49.6%), drug misuse (19.3%), physical abuse (14%) and sexual abuse (6.4%) all score higher.

Child sexual exploitation leaflets

Dr Gallagher acknowledges that CSE is an extremely serious issue that needs the “most robust response possible”, but argues that “all forms or manifestations of child maltreatment should receive the same enhanced level of concern and attention that have been given to CSE.”

He adds: “There is, in my opinion, no case for escalating CSE above much more prevalent and equally harmful forms of child maltreatment as seems to have been the case in some media, political and other quarters.”

Dr Gallagher says the media furore over child sexual exploitation, and the widespread anger over alleged failings by police and social services in towns such as Rotherham, led to a surge in anxiety over, and efforts to address, the problem of CSE on the part of politicians and various agencies.

In 2015, when Prime Minister David Cameron, driven largely by the CSE scandals, announced that child sexual abuse should be seen as a “national threat”, some commentators concluded that the Government saw CSE as “equivalent to terrorism.”

Dr Gallagher expressed concern that the response to CSE has arisen at a time when resources available to tackle child maltreatment more generally are dwindling.