Barnardo's Scotland says events in Rotherham should serve as a "wake up call"
The Rotherham child abuse scandal should be a “wake up call” for Scotland, a leading children’s charity has said.
Barnardo’s Scotland says lessons must be learnt from what went on in the South Yorkshire town.
A report published last month found at least 1,400 children were abused in the in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013.
The charity says child sexual exploitation is a “severe problem” and has published 15 ‘lessons’ which must be learned.
Barnardo’s Scotland says child sex exploitation (CSE) "is happening across Scotland", with two large-scale police operations to identify victims and target perpetrators taking place, one of which is on-going.
We all need to learn the lessons from Rotherham and do our best to protect children from this horrific form of abuse in Scotland
The charity called for recognition that sex between an adult and a child under 16 was always wrong and that it was not the child's responsibility to say 'no'.
Martin Crewe, director of Barnardo's Scotland, said: "We know child sexual exploitation is happening across Scotland.
"We know how devastating it can be. We know charities and support agencies are aware of the problem and are working to put the necessary infrastructure in place to tackle child sexual exploitation.
"But as part of this process, we all need to heed the warning and learn the lessons from Rotherham if we are to be certain that we are all doing our best to protect children from this horrific form of abuse in Scotland.
"If there is one fundamental lesson from Rotherham it is that we cannot be complacent about child sexual exploitation in Scotland."
Barnardo's Scotland: 15 lessons must be learnt
Scale and seriousness of CSE in Rotherham was underplayed, despite hard evidence from frontline workers.
Failures to secure convictions may stem from vulnerable young people not being judged to be credible witnesses in court. Low numbers of prosecutions does not mean CSE is not happening.
Perpetrators target residential units, and the most troubled and isolated children.
Where there is an ethnic dimension to CSE, such as a large number of the abusers coming from a particular ethnic, cultural or social background, whatever that background may be, issues around CSE must be directly addressed with, and by, that group.
Girls from white British backgrounds in Rotherham were not the only victims of sexual exploitation.
Common thread running through CSE cases in England is that there are 'hot spots' where young people may be particularly vulnerable.
In Rotherham, there was little or no specialist counselling or appropriate mental health support for victims, despite their acute distress.
Online grooming can move from online contact to personalised contact very quickly.
Sex education was often out of touch.
A child going missing should always be considered to be a risk indicator of CSE.
Specialist services, which understand both CSE and child protection, have an important role to play.
Thresholds for intervention by agencies need to be clearly defined and set at an appropriate level.
The Jay Report states: "An issue or responsibility that belongs to everybody effectively belongs to nobody".
Strategies, action plans, protocols and procedures do nothing at all for children if they are not implemented.
Finally, "this abuse is not confined to the past but continues to this day."
