Charity calls for greater protection from child abuse

Barnardo's has called on the Scottish Government to do more to protect children and young people from sexual exploitation.

A petition was submitted to Holyrood yesterday, calling on MSPs to urge the Scottish Government to commission research into the true scale of the abuse.

The children's charity also wants statutory bodies to be issued updated guidance on how to deal with the sexual exploitation of children and young people. Members of the public are being asked to back the campaign and sign the Barnardo's petition, entitled Cut Them Free: tackling child sexual exploitation in Scotland.

Barnardo's Scotland director, Martin Crewe, said: "Sexual exploitation is an urgent child protection issue. We are encouraged that the new SNP government has recognised this, but we believe they need to do more.

"We are calling on the government to commission new research to clarify the scale and nature of the problem."