Sexual exposure should be treated as a serious sexual offence, rather than only serious on the basis that it may escalate to contact offending
Sexual exposure and contact sexual offending evidence review
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News
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We’ve published a review of research evidence into the link between sexual exposure, sometimes termed indecent exposure, and contact sexual offending.
It is the largest review of its kind since 2014, and sets out a number of implications for policing, including that:
- crimes of sexual exposure must be taken seriously as harmful, threatening and violating forms of sexual offending
- focus should shift from ‘escalation’ to ‘patterns of offending’
- further research on sexual exposure should be commissioned to fill existing gaps in the evidence base for England and Wales
- new police guidance should apply to all forms of sexual exposure
- reporting mechanisms for victims of non-contact sexual offences should be reviewed, including for ‘intelligence only’ reporting
Publication of the review delivers on our commitment to fulfil the recommendation set out by the Angiolini inquiry.
