The backlog of child sexual abuse (CSA) cases increased significantly during the pandemic, leaving thousands of young people waiting for a court date and unable to access therapeutic support.
- Our Freedom of Information request to the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) reveals the number of outstanding CSA cases increased by 70% last year from nearly 2,700 to over 4,560.1
- The large rise can be partly explained by the first national lockdown when courts were forced to close but also follows a reduction in funding over many years and permanent court closures.2
- The new figures also follow our report last month that prosecutions and convictions for CSA cases halved in the last 4 years.