A Labour MP has warned “urgent action” must be taken in Scotland against child grooming gangs.
Joani Reid said the Scottish Government should make it a legal obligation to report sexual abuse for those working with children. SNP First Minister John Swinney had previously said he was considering it.
It comes after Alexis Jay – who chaired the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse – said she “doesn’t think there’s any difference at all” in the systemic problems around child grooming in Scotland compared to the rest of the UK.
Jay told the House of Commons Home Affairs Committee this week: “I have absolutely no doubt that people behave in similar ways both institutionally and as individual abusers in whatever country. There could be an argument that because of the children’s hearing system in Scotland that it may have been picked up earlier, but I haven’t seen any evidence to confirm that that’s the case.
“It’s possible, but I don’t think there is any difference at all. There’s a difference in context and some settings are more prominent than others in different countries. But it is my strong view – and I have expressed it in one or two sessions in the Scottish Parliament – that they must take seriously the recommendations. There’s a lot of support for that as well.
“But in particular issues like mandatory reporting have to be seriously considered and in terms of the implementation there should be no complacency”.
Jay was born in Edinburgh and is a professor at Strathclyde University. She chaired the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse between 2016 and 2022, having previously led the 2014 inquiry on child sexual abuse in Rotherham.
Reid, MP for East Kilbride, said: “There could not have been a clearer warning that we need rapid movement towards mandatory reporting of sexual abuse.
“John Swinney recently said he was ‘considering’ creating a legal obligation to report sexual abuse. I hope the First Minister will go further and make it clear such mandatory reporting will be passed into law as an obligation for those working with children in Scotland.”
The UK Government said earlier this month that it will introduce mandatory reporting of child abuse.
Reid added: “As well as mandatory reporting we need a full and rigorous set of statistics collected in all parts of the UK. Those statistics must include the ethnic background of children abused and the abusers: there must be no question of any sort of soft pedalling.
“If there is a cultural issue it must be confronted – but we already have the hard evidence that too many men treat women and girls as disposable goods and that they are encouraged to do that by an online army of cheerleaders for abuse. We need to take action against that now.”
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