Grooming survivors prosecuted as children still being failed, Baroness Casey tells BBC
Children who were groomed, sexually abused and then prosecuted for crimes, including prostitution, are still being failed, the author of a landmark report has said. Baroness Louise Casey, who led th…
Children who were groomed, sexually abused and then prosecuted for crimes, including prostitution, are still being failed, the author of a landmark re
Read Full Story at BBC Politics →Why This Matters
The criminalization of children who have endured systemic exploitation reveals a fundamental failure in how justice systems prioritize victimhood over punishment. This issue transcends individual cases, exposing deep-seated institutional biases that treat vulnerable minors as offenders rather than survivors. Until accountability shifts from the exploited to the exploiters, the cycle of abuse will persist under the guise of legal enforcement.
Background Context
For decades, child protection frameworks have operated in silos, where agencies tasked with safeguarding children often defer to criminal justice systems that lack specialized training in trauma-informed responses. The 2023 Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse found that nearly a third of child victims in England and Wales were prosecuted for crimes related to their own exploitation between 2015 and 2020. Legal precedents in cases like R v LM [2020] have since highlighted the need for statutory reform, yet implementation remains inconsistent.
What Happens Next
Parliament’s upcoming review of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act could introduce mandatory diversion programs for exploited children, but political will remains uncertain. Meanwhile, local authorities are under pressure to overhaul multi-agency safeguarding protocols, though funding constraints may stall progress. The real test will be whether courts begin to recognize coercion as a mitigating factor in sentencing—not just an afterthought.
Bigger Picture
This pattern reflects a global crisis where child exploitation is criminalized in at least 30 countries, according to UNICEF, despite international commitments to protect children under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The trend aligns with the rise of "carceral feminism," where punitive responses to abuse overshadow restorative justice—a paradigm that risks replicating harm under the banner of protection.
