Preventing sexual violence with young people is "absolute priority"

Rape Crisis Scotland says confronting and preventing sexual violence with young people is an "absolute priority".

The organisation, which supports victims of sexual violence, said on Twitter that after some of the top stories in the news this week featuring teenage boys being found guilty of raping and murdering young girls, it's a priority to ensure everything is done to prevent future cases.

The news comes after 16-year-old Aaron Campbell was found guilty this week of raping and murdering six-year-old Alesha MacPhail.

A 17-year-old boy was also sentenced to 19 years behind bars this week for the rape and murder of 14-year-old Viktorija Sokolova in Wolverhampton in April 2018.

Sandra Brindley from Rape Crisis Scotland said:

"I think we’ve seen in recent days some very upsetting cases involving sexual violence and murder of a young woman and a very young girl.

"We’re seeing really huge increases in the amount of sexual offences carried out by young people and particularly young men and I do think we need to be looking at what messages are we giving to boys and young men about sex, sexuality, and attitudes towards women and girls – what role does pornography play but also what role do violent games play?

"I think prevention work with young people is absolutely crucial. Working with young people talking about what consent is and really just trying to give an alternative view of what sexuality is that’s based on respect and some form of mutuality rather than the view that I worry that they’re getting from pornography, which is very much based on the debasement of women and it’s not a version of sex, it’s based on consent."