THE boss of a centre for rape victims has blamed clothing and music videos for the `increasing sexualisation of children'.
Dr Catherine White said the number of young victims seen at The Sexual Assault Referral Centre at St Mary's Hospital had been rising over the last few years.
And Dr White says how society portrays children needs to be re-examined.
She said: "We have to look more fundamentally at what's happening. There's an increasing sexualisation of children. When you see a little girl wearing a T-shirt with a Playboy bunny, that's wrong isn't it?
"I've seen another that said `porn star in the making'.
"Music videos are extremely influential. I think it's all subconscious and there's a drip, drip, drip effect. It might not be one thing but all together it's having an effect on values, on what is acceptable and not acceptable.
"For the potential perpetrators, it's about knowing what's acceptable and what's not acceptable. Also, there are a lot of vulnerable people out there and it's about giving them the confidence to say `that's not right'."
Controversy
The issue of sexualising children has hit the headlines in recent years in a number of high-profile cases.
Murdered American six-year-old JonBenét Ramsey, who was entered into scores of American child beauty pagants by her parents, was found dead in the basement of her home in Colorado in 1996.
Pictures of her wearing adult clothes and make-up as she took part in the competitons sparked a huge public debate.
And images of Britney Spears shocked the nation when she appeared in a school uniform for her hit single `Hit Me Baby One More Time'.
Britney was just 17 at the time but the video showed her in numerous seductive poses.
In 2006 Tesco was forced to remove a pole-dancing kit from the toys and games section of its website after it was accused of `destroying children's innocence'.
The Tesco Direct site advertised the kit with the words: "Unleash the sex kitten inside...simply extend the Peekaboo pole inside the tube, slip on the sexy tunes and away you go!"
The £49.97 kit, comprising of a chrome pole, a `sexy dance garter' and a DVD demonstrating suggestive dance moves, was slammed as 'extremely dangerous' by family campaigners.
Seductive poses
The St Mary's centre became the first of its kind in Britain when it opened in 1986. It sees more than 1,000 people a year providing counselling, medical care and gathering forensic evidence from victims of sex assaults.
In 2006, they opened a children's examination suite and the number of youngsters - people aged under 18 - coming through the doors since then has been far higher than expected.
Dr White, who is the centre's clinical director, added: "When we opened the children's examination suite we estimated we would see about 250 every year. We saw 400 in the first and it's continued to grow.
"I don't believe we are having more abuse. But I think as a service we have got better and so more people will come forward. I'm sure the number should be greater than 400 and that there are still more people out there who could come forward."
Dr White spoke out after policing minister David Hanson announce £3.2m for eight similar centres up and down the country. Some of the cash will also go to 26 existing centres in England and Wales.
Dr White welcomed the government investment but said more was needed and society had to change to poor address attitudes towards sex.
She said: "We always want more money and staff. It's about making sure services are integrated.
"At St Mary's we have worked hard on that but across the country there is a great disparity in services and we need to make sure there is a minimum standard everywhere.
"And it would be helpful to have better education to stop the problems we see here in the first place.
She added society as a whole, not government, had to address the problem.
"I don't think you can legislate for this sort of thing," said Dr White.
St Mary's Sexual Assault Referral Centre can be contacted on 0161 276 6515 24 hours a day or
online here.
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Showing comments 1 to 25 and replies | View All
Voter (11/08/2009 at 08:07)
Hamish Macbeth, Whitefield (11/08/2009 at 08:43)
Too true....and with this appalling message, and generous benefits to young single mums, we have the highest teenage pregnancy rate in Europe.
Andy ex-Stockport, Elsewhere (11/08/2009 at 08:47)
chillbill, oldham (11/08/2009 at 08:50)
Angelene19, Manchester (11/08/2009 at 08:54)
citycentre, manchester (11/08/2009 at 09:07)
One of the highest, certainly, and much higher than the Nederlands, or Scandinavian nations, also noted for their "liberal" approach to these matters, and about half that of the US, with its more abstinance and religious based approach.
I suspect wider cultrual factors are at work, rather than anything that happens in schools.
dessie, manchester (11/08/2009 at 09:13)
Jack (11/08/2009 at 09:27)
Angie33 , Manchester (11/08/2009 at 09:53)
7501 , Manchester (11/08/2009 at 10:04)
The Devil's Advocate, M11 born and bred, East Stand Lower 104 (11/08/2009 at 10:35)
Thomas The Tank, Rusholme (11/08/2009 at 10:39)
Mr Angry, Bury (11/08/2009 at 10:46)
As for parents, they have some responsibility too, girls can wear sexy stuff when they are 18, NOT BEFORE, in my opinion
Hugh, Hale (11/08/2009 at 11:03)
You see it at the airport. Families going away and lad and da have their football tops on whilst mother and daughter have short denim skirts and crop tops on. I know that there is pressure from the media but the parents should be setting an example too.
I remember going to the pubs and clubs twenty years ago and you would get one or two women in there with a mini skirt on but they would usually be the local bikes. The way the majority dress these days is how you would have normally only seen hookers in such attire. Why go out looking like a hooker?
A female friend of mine who is well proprtioned decided in the middle of Mumbai that she was going to wear a very low cut top. I said maybe she would attract the wrong sort of attention and should respect loacl customes. She said that she was ' a western woman who was free and wouldn't bow to anybody'. Well the ensuing hoards of men following her around and the local woman spitting at her was a worrying sight, but she thought that she was liberating the women there, when to be honest she looked like a hooker. This is a very clever lady too.
CorneredAllTheLuck, Tameside (11/08/2009 at 11:23)
Zimmerman, manchester (11/08/2009 at 11:24)
Mr Angry, Bury (11/08/2009 at 11:49)
scaryfairy (11/08/2009 at 12:18)
yes, the media has a lot to answer for too. but again, there has always been a market for it. who doesn't remember buying 'Jackie' and 'My Guy' when we were teenagers?
as for schools,they should have stricter rules on uniforms and in particular no make up or nail polish should be allowed.
sex education is obviously failing, parents are not educated enough to do it as they were only children when they became parents themselves and are most are not interested anyway. sex education should be taken away from 'science' classes and instead taught in a pastoral environment, perhaps with a school/community nurse involved as well as a counselling service. and it shouldn't just focus on 'the act' itself, but also on self esteem, building relationships, self confidence as these areas help to turn our youngsters into more well rounded individuals. perhaps nurses from our local genito-urinary services can help with this matter?
solomon, Newton Heath (11/08/2009 at 12:23)
Pushkin (11/08/2009 at 12:23)
May people dress their kids up as some sort of competition living their own inadequate lives through their children. Dress your kids up like Britney Spears and what do you expect? They'll grow up in the belief that you have to be better than everyone else and that clothes and image are everything.
We place too much pressure on kids about things that are truly unimportant.
It's a sad indicment when appearing on X-Factor looks like a career option!
tony adams (11/08/2009 at 12:24)
Billy the Fish! (11/08/2009 at 12:27)
My better half and I were mortified! These children were dressed in high heels and make up parading around in front of cameras!
I personally thought it was just 'wrong'. How can a parent even consider letting their little girl dress like that for other peoples enjoyment. Just one example on this issue but I do find it very unsavory!
solomon, Newton Heath (11/08/2009 at 12:42)
Jan Elliott (11/08/2009 at 13:23)
It's a shame that some folk can't see the natural innocent beauty of their children, and try to conserve it while it lasts - Interesting, isn't it, that some of these people who do this are the very ones that struggle with getting older themselves, and undergo surgery in order to look younger...could it be jealousy that causes them to want their kids to look older?!
Proud Patriot, Ramsbottom (11/08/2009 at 13:24)
Whilst the way he portrayed the comparison was extremely funny, the serious side of this is the effect that this pornography is having on our children.
A few days ago there were articles in the press about young boys and girls sending intimate pictures via their mobile phones.
Sex is available to almost all, parental guidlines on the home computers wont stop access whilst the mobile phones can get the internet!
And we wonder why our children and their children have grown up to think of sex as just an act of selfish pleasure. That's why we are breeding lads who grow up to think girls are easy and girls who grow up to think that acting like a tart is the norm.
The consequence of this is we have more and more sex crimes