The report by the Commission on Young Lives and Manchester Metropolitan University estimates there are tens of thousands of girls in England who are vulnerable to serious violence and that many of these girls are likely to also be at risk of sexual or criminal exploitation.

It is a reminder that there is still a lot of work to be done to stop children from being exploited.

And even areas that have made progress need to ensure that they do not let their guard down.

The scale of the problem is not being recognised currently and an under-reporting of concerns is leaving many girls invisible to services.

Anne Longfield is the fromer Children's Commissioner for England. PIC: James Hardisty

While a lot of emphasis of youth justice and criminal gang prevention activities has been placed on boys, authorities can’t allow that to create a blind spot around the exploitation of girls.

There could be as many as 60,000 girls in England vulnerable to serious violence. And many of these girls are likely to also be at risk of sexual assault and criminal exploitation.

A lot more needs to be done at school to ensure that proper intervention takes place early on. The report recommends specialist educational programmes for all secondary schools in violence hotspot areas. Educational programmes to tackle the spread of misogynistic messages via social media influencers and to explore issues around consent and healthy relationships are also needed.

Anne Longfield, former Children's Commissioner for England and chair of the Commission on Young Lives, warns, “Too many vulnerable girls and women are suffering in silence. We have heard repeatedly how many girls do not feel able to talk about what is happening to them.”

This is not good enough and all authorities need to do much more to ensure that these vulnerable girls don’t fall prey to criminals.

More needs to be done to prevent girls falling prey to criminals - The Yorkshire Post says