- There were 1,510 reported cases of sexual exploitation of children in Rotherham in 2017.
- 5% of cases of violence and abuse are identified by social care services or the police, suggesting a need for earlier identification methods.
- 24% of domestic abuse victims in Sheffield belong to the BME community.
Sisters For Change worked with partners in Rotherham and Sheffield to document service commissioning for victims of violence for our 2017 publication Unequal Regard, Unequal Protection: Public authority responses to violence against BME women in England. Rotherham came into the media spotlight following the exposure of a child sexual exploitation scandal in 2012. An independent inquiry found that 1400 children had been sexually abused in the town between 1997-2013. Since this report, there has been a drive to increase reporting and services targeting violence against women and girls.
From 2015-2016, the South Yorkshire police have reported a 5.7% increase in calls relating to domestic abuse. Young women and BME women have been identified as being particularly at risk: 12.6% of females aged 16-19 in Sheffield have experienced domestic abuse and 9% have experienced sexual assault in the last 12 months; and 24% of domestic abuse victims are BME.
