Some of my constituents concerned about the
inability of Protection of Trust law to safeguard our children have written to
me to seek my support of the NSPCC’s Close the Loophole Campaign.
They informed me although the law may protect
children in the classroom, as it stands it is inadequate in protecting children
against other adults in positions with similar power and influence, like a
sports coach or youth group leader can legally use their position to groom
children in their care.
For instance, police are currently unable to
investigate more than 650 complaints made to councils about adults having sex
with teenagers in their care made between 2014 and 2018 because of this legal
loophole. The NSPCC has said that it is aware of many cases of young people
whose lives have been negatively impacted by adults abusing their position of
power.
Keeping young people safe and protected from
abusive behaviour of adults is important to me, and that is why I am happy to
say to my constituents that I will be supporting the Close the Loophole
campaign. I have now contacted the NSPCC’s public affairs team to inform them
of my willingness to work with them to address this issue in our justice
system.
More information about the NSPCC’s campaign and how
you can get involved can be found on their website: https://www.nspcc.org.uk/what-we-do/campaigns/close-the-loophole/
