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<p>My department does not collect information about the prevalence of child sexual
abuse in sport. Child sexual abuse investigations and statistics are managed by the
police.</p><p> </p><p>The latest figures from Operation Hydrant, which coordinates
non-recent child sexual abuse and exploitation investigations concerning institutional
settings, show 329 sport institutions as being on the Operation Hydrant database up
to and including 30 September 2018.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Operation Hydrant has also
published separate statistics relating to non-recent child sexual abuse in football,
up to and including 29 March 2018. These show that, at the time of publication, there
were 849 alleged victims and 300 alleged suspects of non-recent child sexual abuse
in football. These figures do not show in which years the alleged abuse took place,
nor the relationship between the alleged perpetrator and victim. Since March 2018,
football-related statistics have been captured in the Operation’s broader quarterly
statistics.</p><p> </p><p>Ensuring that sport is a safe environment for all young
people is one of my top priorities, and my department works closely with Sport England
and the Child Protection in Sport Unit to strengthen provision wherever possible.
To support these efforts, I am committed to working closely with the Ministry of Justice
to extend the definition of a ‘position of trust’ in the Sexual Offences Act 2003
to include sports coaches who hold a position of trust in relation to a child aged
16 or 17 under their care.</p>
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