Inquiry Into Child Sex Abuse By Street Gangs

The sexual exploitation of thousands of children by street gangs is to be investigated in a new two-year probe.

There are fears more than 10,000 children are being abused

The investigation is being led by Deputy Children's Commissioner Sue Berelowitz.
It will examine the scale of the problem amid fears more children than current estimates may be being targeted.
The most recent figures suggest up to 10,000 youngsters could be subject to sexual abuse by gangs or other groups.
But initial research carried out for the Office of the Children's Commissioner has suggested this figure could be much higher.

It is a corrosive problem that needs serious research and action to help those affected.

Rebecca Einhorn, from the NSPCC 

Ms Berelowitz has already said existing data is inadequate and the full extent of this type of abuse is unknown.
Maggie Atkinson, Children's Commissioner for England, said the inquiry would be "a wake-up call for us all".
The investigation team will gather evidence from police and local authorities as well as health and youth justice workers before publishing an interim report in July.
More information will then be gathered the following autumn into early 2013, and the final report will be released in September that year.
Concerns have already been raised this year about a lack of action over the sexual abuse of children.
Leading children's charity Barnardo's warned in August that parents and professionals were missing telltale signs of youngsters being groomed for sex.
And in June, the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (Ceop) published research which found two-thirds of Local Safeguarding Children Boards were not meeting guidelines and did not have "basic processes" to stop sexual abuse.
Rebecca Einhorn, from the NSPCC's Street Matters project, said: "Many girls' lives are seriously damaged by gangs who run this type of grooming.
"It is a corrosive problem that needs serious research and action to help those affected.
"Each year we work with up to 250 girls - four out of five of them have been snared by these predatory offenders.
"We know this type of sexual abuse affects many communities across the UK and has a devastating impact on the young victims.
"But hopefully this inquiry will give us a clearer picture of just how big the problem is and help those working in the field find solutions to protect these vulnerable children."