MP says victims of sexual offences committed by children asked to "suck it up" following Fordingbridge rape case
Former minister for violence against women says victims are being asked to “suck it up”
The Fordingbridge rape victims are being asked to “suck it up for the sake” of the offenders’ rehabilitation, the former minister for safeguarding and violence against women has said.
Jess Phillips, who resigned from her role as minister earlier this month, said sentencing guidelines do not take into account a “growing trend” of children sexually abusing other children.
In an interview with BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Ms Phillips warned that crime may have become “content for an eyeball economy”, with serious offences being filmed “in order to make content”.
Her concerns come after three teenagers, who cannot be named as they are under 18, were spared jail over the rape of two girls in Fordingbridge, Hampshire.
A trial at Southampton Crown Court in March heard how two girls were raped in two separate incidents in Fordingbridge, with the first attack taking place on November 26, 2024 and the second on January 17, 2025.
Two 15-year-olds were given non-custodial sentences after raping the two girls, with a judge at Southampton Crown Court saying he wanted to “avoid criminalising these children unnecessarily”.
The court heard how one of the boys had ADHD as well as “long-standing anxiety”, while the second boy had an IQ of the “bottom 1 per cent of his contemporaries” and had also been diagnosed with ADHD.
A third boy, who was described as having “mild cognitive impairment”, was also handed a youth rehabilitation order for 18 months.
The Attorney General has since referred their sentences to the Court of Appeal for review as “unduly lenient”.
In her interview, Ms Phillips called for sentencing guidelines for children to be reviewed, suggesting they placed too much emphasis on the perpetrator and not enough on the victims.
The 44-year-old added: “If we look at the findings in the Southport Inquiry, obviously a terrible and heinous crime committed by a child, one of the main findings of the first bit of the inquiry is that where we focus too heavily on the perpetrator and their vulnerabilities, and don’t think about the public safety element.
“We are essentially asking the girls in Fordingbridge, and now these new cases that have been reported in The Guardian, to essentially suck it up for the sake of the perception of what is best for the perpetrators.
“I think absolutely this all needs looking at.”
She also called for more preventative measures to be put in place, including “early intervention” at school or through the justice system.
Asked what was driving the rise in sexual offences committed by children, Ms Phillips said: “I cannot ignore the growth in online pornography, access to the most heinous things online for this generation that just simply didn’t exist in prior generations.
“And so looking at what young people look at online, what they have available to them, and actually whether crime has become content for an eyeball economy.
“Because in some of these cases they were being filmed in order to make content.”
The Fordingbridge rape case has now been sent to the Court of Appeal following public outcry with Attorney General Lord Hermer saying “there is an epidemic of violence against women and girls in this country.”
He added: “There has understandably been a huge amount of public interest and concern at this horrific case. I directed my officials to work urgently to allow me to consider this decision swiftly, and to begin to bring closure to the victims and their families.
"It is clear to me from their powerful personal statements that these girls have displayed immense bravery in coming forward.”