Grooming Report On Greater Manchester

30 October 2014, 06:00

Child Sex Exploitation in being described as a real and ongoing problem in Greater Manchester.

Stockport MP - Ann Coffey's found it's now a social norm in some areas. Her independent report was commissioned by Tony Lloyd, the Greater Manchester Police and Crime Commissioner, to see what has changed since the Rochdale grooming case in 2012.

Ms Coffey said: ``I have been concerned about the number of people who have told me that in some neighbourhoods child sexual exploitation had become the new social norm.

``This social norm has perhaps been fuelled by the increased sexualisation of children and young people and an explosion of explicit music videos and the normalisation of quasi-pornographic images.

``Sexting, selfies, Instagram and the like have given rise to new social norms and changed expectations of sexual entitlement, and with it a confused understanding of what constitutes consent.''

Some schoolgirls told her they were regularly approached by older men in the street and urged to get into cars on their way home from school.

Such approaches were ``part of everyday life'' because it had become normalised.

Figures from Greater Manchester Police produced  for the inquiry show there are 260 ongoing police investigations into child sexual exploitation.

The report claims the problem will not be tackled unless there is a ``sea change'' in public attitudes away from a culture of blaming children and young people for bringing about their own sexual exploitation.

Ann Coffey is calling for young people themselves to take the lead in tackling the issue.