Sexualisation of children ‘fuels juvenile sex crime rise’

Sharp increases in sex crimes by juveniles is part of a wider sexualisation of children, according to a leading charity.

Children At Risk in Ireland said society needed to examine if the “pendulum has swung too much” in terms of what was accepted as normal for children in society.

The Irish Examiner reported yesterday that 250 sex crimes were committed by children under 18 in 2011, compared to 195 in 2010 and 74 in 2009.

The figures, contained in a Garda report on juvenile crime, showed that the number of rapes rose from 17 in 2009, to 50 in 2010 and to 85 in 2011. Cases of defilement of a child under 17 increased from 10 in 2010 to 33 in 2011.

The organisation, which provides therapy to sexually abused children, said these figures tallied with their experience.

“We have been highlighting a huge increase in sexualised behaviour for the last four years,” said Mary Flaherty, national director at Cari.

“The sexual behaviour goes right up to individuals engaged in the most serious kinds of behaviour.”

She said they had 122 calls from parents regarding the sexualisation of their children in 2010, 212 in 2011, and 157 in 2012.

She said the number of calls regarding rape and sexual assaults on children had doubled, from 132 in 2011 to 272 in 2012 and that young people featured stronglyin those calls, including gang rape situations.

“There is a huge sexualisation of society,” she said. “This is not just access to pornography — which, of course, is a huge problem as it normalises expectations, not just for boys but also for girls — but also sexting, which is becoming more common.”

Sexting refers to naked photos being sent by mobile phone.

Ms Flaherty encouraged parents to try and talk to their children about sex and suggested they explain to children how real or otherwise the online world is.

*See www.cari.ie or ring the Cari helpline on 1890 92 45 67