NCJ Number
217402
Journal
Howard Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 46 Issue: 1 Dated: February 2007 Pages: 60-71
Date Published
February 2007
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This article describes and critiques the Sexual Offenses Act 2003, enacted in England and Wales.
Abstract
The main argument is that the Sexual Offenses Act 2003, implemented in England and Wales in May 2004, fails to be truly preventative. The authors are critical of the legislation and support Richard Law’s suggestion that child sexual abuse prevention should take a public health approach. Increased awareness and concern about the sexual grooming of children in England and Wales, particularly over the Internet, led to the United Kingdom’s first “sexual grooming” legislation: the Sexual Offenses Act 2003. Prior to this Act, sexual grooming was not a criminal offense in the United Kingdom. Following a review of the Sexual Offenses Act 2003, which eliminated previously existing gaps in the legislative provisions for sexual offenses, the authors turn to a discussion of the effectiveness of the Act and the practical difficulties that are likely to restrict its intended scope. The Act has been criticized for not providing a clear definition of sexual grooming, which will certainly lead to problems regarding enforcement. Moreover, critics have pointed out that the legislation criminalizes the meeting following the sexual grooming and not the sexual grooming behavior itself. As a result, police cannot engage in proactive policing via the Internet, which leads to difficulty in obtaining proof of sexual intent. Thus, while the legislation was intended to be applicable to all types of grooming behaviors, in practice the law is likely to be limited in its scope. The authors also point out that in addition to problems of definition, scope, and ability to obtain evidence, is the challenge of actually identifying the grooming behavior. A preliminary evaluation of the early use of the legislation indicates that its use to date has been reactive rather than preventative even though the legislation was widely lauded as preventative in nature. References