Voices of victims must be heard ; VIEW FROM WESTMINSTER

LAST week I spent a great deal of my time focused on what moreneeds to be done to raise awareness of child sexual exploitation aswell as domestic and sexual abuse of women and men. I also spenttime on the issues of detecting and prosecuting these crimes, and ofsupporting victims. I have been working with Devon and CornwallPolice for some time on issues around these crimes and am pleased tosee that the voices of those on the front line are informinggovernment policy and action.

I was pleased to join the launch of a new service in Cornwall forthe victims of domestic and sexual violence. It is a partnershipbetween the police, NHS and Cornwall Council and is based in Truro.

I appreciated the opportunity to listen to more professionals,volunteers as well as young people at a meeting in Torbay on Monday.Organised by the Torbay Independent Safeguarding Children Board,this meeting highlighted excellent work in Devon that bringstogether professionals from across the public sector and charitiessuch as the NSPCC and the Children's Society to tackle the sexualexploitation of children. We also learned about work around the UKthat has really got to grips with protecting young people who aregroomed by sex offenders and subsequently raped. I have been shockedby the numbers of children affected in every community across thecountry. While sexual abuse of children seems like a crime for adifferent country or in a bygone age, it is something we all need toface up to and tackle in our communities now.

Perpetrators While these are not new crimes, the internet is anew and highly effective tool for the perpetrators of thishorrendous crime. The Government has launched a new website thatbrings together a great deal of information about what all thoseadults working with or caring for children can do to informthemselves of the risks. This is called the Click Clever, Click Safecampaign and can be found through the UK Council for Child InternetSafety (UKCCIS) website or by following this link: http://clickcleverclicksafe.direct. gov.uk/index.html As a mum of three, mysimple advice to any parent or carer of a child is to get informedand not let your children use the internet on a mobile phone orlaptop alone in their bedroom. The bitter irony is that while mostparents are concerned about the risks of strangers coming intocontact with their children and hurting them in a park or while theyare out playing, they are more at risk on Facebook, Bebo or usingother social media.

Failings I have also been alarmed by the experiences of youngvictims in the criminal justice system, especially about failings inthe court system. I have written to Ken Clarke, the Secretary ofState responsible, asking him to ensure urgent improvements aremade. This week we will be debating the vitally important issues ofsentencing, bail conditions and release on licence or otherwise. Iwill highlight the issue and press for changes.