Home Secretary Suella Braverman visits Rotherham to discuss new grooming law with survivor Sammy Woodhouse and MP

Ms Braverman met with CSE survivor Sammy Woodhouse, and Alexander Stafford, Rother Valley’s MP to acknowledge the legislation at Mr Stafford’s Dinnington constituency office.

The legislation means that safeguarding professionals, such as teachers, social workers and local authority officers who do not report signs of CSE will face criminal charges.

Earlier this year, Sammy Woodhouse celebrated a change in the law to protect children born through rape.

Sammy, who bravely waived her right to anonymity, blew the lid off the shocking Rotherham child sexual exploitation scandal which led to the publication of a damning report in 2014 revealing how around 1,400 children in Rotherham had been abused by grooming gangs.

She has been campaigning for the government to give children born from rape legal victim status to give them a voice so that they can receive specialist help and potentially prosecute their fathers.

Alexander Stafford MP said: “I am delighted to welcome the Home Secretary to Rother Valley to introduce her to Sammy and speak to her about this landmark new legislation.

“The grooming gangs scandal is a blight on our local history and must never, ever be allowed to happen again. By strengthening the punishment for those found to have failed in their safeguarding duty to young people, we can ensure this never recurs.

“In two weeks’ time, I will be bringing a 10 minute rule bill to Parliament that will ban anyone found to have been implicated in CSE from public office.”