Newlove said the authorities are failing young people that come forward with stories of abuse<\/a>, making them feel like criminals themselves.<\/p>\n In some cases, children said they were simply not believed or told that they were wasting the police\u2019s time.<\/p>\n Read more<\/p>\n \u201cThey didn\u2019t care because we were three teenage girls,\u201d<\/em> a young woman said in describing how the police reacted to her call about an assault<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s like we were wasting their time. They couldn\u2019t be bothered with us.”<\/em><\/p>\n Twelve female victims aged between nine and 17, and some of their parents, were interviewed about their experiences reporting sexual or violent crimes.<\/p>\n Many told the commissioner that they were not treated with the \u201cdignity and respect\u201d<\/em> they expected, and some girls said they had felt as if they had to \u201cprove themselves\u201d<\/em> or like \u201ca test subject \u2013 a monkey in a cage to be prodded.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cIt seems that lessons are still not being learnt about believing young victims when they come forward and taking them seriously,\u201d<\/em> the report states, citing previous child abuse inquiries<\/a>, including the Jimmy Savile and Rotherham grooming network scandals.<\/p>\n In one rape case, a teenage girl was interviewed by male officers on three separate occasions, despite asking for a female officer each time.<\/p>\n
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