Child sexual offences by children rise for fourth year as campaign calls for lifelong sex education
An analysis of government figures shows sexual offences committed by children rose for a fourth year, from 915 in 2022 to over 1,400 in 2025, as a campaign calls for lifelong sex education.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
An analysis of government figures has found that the number of children guilty of committing a sexual offence has risen for the fourth year in a row, from 915 in 2022 to more than 1,400 in 2025. A new campaign called Summer of Sex, led by MP Samantha Niblett, is calling for lifelong sexual education to combat misogyny and sexual violence.
The campaign argues that sex education should not stop at school. It wants age-appropriate and inclusive lessons in primary school, but also education throughout life. Its aim is to reduce sexual violence and rape culture and to remove the shame, guilt and embarrassment that supporters say allow sexual perpetrators to thrive. The campaign also wants the UK to set an agenda that other countries can follow.
The issue has been highlighted by Millie, an influencer with more than 180,000 followers who uses social media to raise awareness about sexual abuse and recovery. She says she was sexually assaulted at a house party when she was 16 and that the person who did it was also 16. She says the attack ruined her confidence and was an intense thing to deal with from a young age. Her inbox is now filled with messages from young people facing similar problems. She receives messages from girls every day and from boys asking whether what happened to them counts as assault. She wants much more done about women's safety.
Staff at a Bristol charity say the rise in offences is no surprise. They say at least half of their caseload involves peer-on-peer abuse, where a young person is abused by another young person. Often this involves two people from the same school, whether primary, secondary or college, or it involves familial abuse.
The sex education curriculum is set to change from September to address issues such as misogyny and sexual violence. But the campaign says this does not go far enough and that lifelong sex education is needed to tackle the growing problem. Millie also says she feels a responsibility to speak out. She hopes that more open conversations about sex and consent will help stop others from being hurt.
On screen
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Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, grouped by how many channels reported each one. Select a dot to see the source excerpt.
| Claim |  |
|---|---|
| Only on one channel | |
| The number of children found guilty of a sexual offence rose for a fourth consecutive year, from 915 in 2022 to over 1,400 in 2025. | |
| The sex education curriculum is due to change from September to address misogyny and sexual violence. | |
| The Summer of Sex campaign, led by MP Samantha Niblett, calls for lifelong sexual education to tackle misogyny and sexual violence. | |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
The bulletin led on the fourth consecutive annual rise in sexual offences committed by children, using the government figures as its main news hook. It gave significant space to survivor and influencer Millie, whose social media messages were used to show the ongoing scale of the problem, and to a Bristol charity's casework on peer-on-peer abuse. It also reported the September curriculum changes but framed them as insufficient, giving the Summer of Sex campaign's call for lifelong sex education the final word.
- “figures analysed by ITV News show sexual offences committed by children have risen for the fourth consecutive year”
- “In terms of my own caseload at least half are what we kind of call peer on peer abuse so that's when it's abuse perpetrated against a young person by another young person.”
- “We need lifelong sex education not just sex education from school and primary school I would say that's age appropriate and inclusive but something that actually gives us education all our lives.”
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.