A message of solidarity with survivors of child sexual abuse

We stand in solidarity with all survivors of child sexual abuse, exploitation and other forms of sexual violence. This devastating abuse disproportionately impacts women and girls and is a major cause of gender inequality in society. Public discussions of abuse can have a big impact on survivors who may find them re-traumatising, particularly given how quickly these conversations often reflect and reinforce victim-blaming, rape myths and misinformation.

Earlier this month, the owner of X (formerly known as Twitter), Elon Musk, made a series of public comments about child ‘grooming gangs’ in the UK. This reignited conversations about the response to the sexual abuse and exploitation of girls in several towns across England a decade ago, as well as the spread of harassment and misinformation online.

The original tweets and surrounding discussions have resulted in survivors of child sexual abuse and exploitation being treated as political fodder, rather than meaningfully addressing  the scale and devastation of violence against women and girls (VAWG), and the systemic failures that leave survivors of abuse unprotected.

Feminist movements have long worked to end all forms of sexual violence and domestic abuse. The same cannot be said, however, for those who cruelly exploit survivors’ trauma for their own political agenda.

The far-right and its supporters have a long history of co-opting sexual violence to promote their own racist, white supremacist agenda. In recent years, this has included the likes of Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (aka Tommy Robinson) who use cases of child sexual exploitation by “grooming gangs” (which the far-right and its supporters now often use as shorthand for Pakistani or brown Muslim men) as a rallying anti-immigration call. These individuals and groups are often known misogynists who never actively or meaningfully campaign to improve women and girls’ autonomy, rights and freedoms – in fact, they tend to support a patriarchal view of the family and interpersonal relationships.

Violence against women and girls is one of the most urgent human rights issues we face. 1 in 4 women in England and Wales will experience domestic abuse in her lifetime^[1]. Almost half of all rapes of women are perpetrated by their partner or ex-partner, and in 85% of cases, the victim knows the perpetrator^[2]. Abuse within the family accounts for almost half of all child sexual abuse offences reported to the police in England and Wales^[3]. Offenders of ‘group-based child sexual exploitation’ are most commonly white^[4]. Black and minoritised women and girls are disproportionately victims of male violence^[5] and face considerable barriers to accessing justice and support. Yet we continue to see politicians, media outlets and tech giants ignore these facts and wrongly conflate the universal issue of male violence with migrant and minoritised communities.

We have grown worryingly used to hearing violence against women and girls weaponised in mainstream political rhetoric to justify racist policies and laws that cause significant harm, including to women and survivors of gender-based violence. The End Violence Against Women Coalition has long spoken out against this and vocally countered these narratives – from opposing Tommy Robinson’s 2019 European Elections campaign to rejecting the former Home Secretary’s inaccurate and inflammatory claims about ‘Asian grooming gangs’. We are now seeing the billionaire owners of tech platforms make inflammatory comments about sexual violence, while the conditions for online abuse and harm on these platforms are ever-increasing. This risks detracting from the fundamental work that must be done to ensure we hold perpetrators of abuse to account, and the protection and support that all survivors have a right to is made available.

Platforms such as X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and Instagram are integral parts of our public commons in the digital age. Mark Zuckerberg’s recent announcement that he will be rolling back public protections such as fact-checking and content moderation on Facebook and Instagram will be felt most keenly by women, girls, LGBTQ+ people and minoritised communities – putting them directly in harm’s way – including grooming for abuse. While Ofcom will finally be able to implement regulatory measures brought in by the Online Safety Act this year, the push towards de-regulation is an enormous concern, with platforms prioritising profits and power over the safety and wellbeing of their users.

Protecting women and marginalised communities from abuse online is essential to ensuring freedom of speech, given how the threat of harassment and abuse stops us from taking part in public life and forces us to self-censor and adapt our own behaviour. Female MPs, in particular those from Black and minoritised backgrounds, are disproportionately the subject of abuse. Last year we saw Britain’s first Black female MP, Diane Abbott, subjected to racist misogynoir by a Tory party donor – following years of abuse. In the past week we’ve seen Safeguarding Minister, Jess Phillips MP, atrociously targeted by Elon Musk. The tragic murder of Jo Cox serves as a constant reminder of the very real impact of far-right rhetoric and why it cannot be ignored.

At this point in time, it’s vital we see no rolling back on human rights protections in the UK. This would have grave consequences for women’s rights. The Human Rights Act and European Convention on Human Rights are crucial tools for women and girls harmed by men and state violence in the UK – enabling survivors to hold the police and other institutions accountable when they are failed. Any attack on our universal rights harms all of us and we know that eroding these fundamental protections for some creates a society in which rights can be taken away from any of us at any time.

Violence against women and girls is a national emergency and tackling it needs a whole society response which ensures we can access our rights and freedoms; perpetrators are held accountable, the support needs of all survivors can be met, and the prevention of abuse is at the heart of our response to VAWG.

^[1] Refuge (2025) Facts and Statistics https://refuge.org.uk/what-is-domestic-abuse/the-facts/

^[2] Office for National Statisticus (2021) Nature of sexual assault by rape or penetration, England and Wales: year ending March 2020 https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/natureofsexualassaultbyrapeorpenetrationenglandandwales

^[3] Centre for Expertise on Child Sexual abuse (2023) Key messages from research on intra-familial child sexual abuse https://www.csacentre.org.uk/app/uploads/2023/09/Key-messages-from-research-on-intra-familial-child-sexual-abuse-2nd-edition.pdf

^[4] Home Office (2020) Group-based Child Sexual Exploitation Characteristics of Offending https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/944206/Group-based_CSE_Paper.pdf

^[5] Office for National Statistics (2020) Sexual offences victim characteristics, England and Wales: year ending March 2020 https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/articles/sexualoffencesvictimcharacteristicsenglandandwales/march2020