Sarah's law a tokenistic gesture

In his latest comment piece on our website the Centre's director Richard Garside argues that Sarah's law, which allows parents to ask the police if a person who has contact with their child has a record of child sexual offences, is a 'tokenistic drop in a very big ocean of child abuse'.

Richard writes:

'Tackling child sexual exploitation in a meaningful manner will require sustained work, involving families, communities, public, civil society and private bodies over several decades... Instead, worried parents, alongside individuals with possibly more base motives, are offered the chance to get the lowdown on a disliked neighbour, a weird relative, a new partner of an ex-partner or just someone who seems a bit odd. That so few have taken up this opportunity suggests that the British public are more thoughtful and intelligent than policy makers and tabloid newspapers often tend to treat them.'

You can read Richard's piece here.

Richard debated the issues around Sarah's law on the Today programme this morning. You can listen to it here for the next seven days (45 minutes in).