RAPE has ceased to be a taboo subject, and the more open climate has worked in favour of victims.

They are more ready to report the crime, the expertise in handling their cases is vastly improved. As a result, so is the conviction rate. All this, however, assumes the victim is an adult, with a grasp of the wicked crime that has been committed on them.

What, though, if the victim is a child? The revelations about Jimmy Savile made the matter of child rape all too pertinent, but now the issue has come closer to home, following the release of the latest batch of Essex crime statistics.

They indicate that there were 361 child rapes, almost one a day, during the period covered.

Essex police commissioner Nick Alston echoes the feelings of everyone when he calls the figures “highly distressing”.

They also raise a problem.

Children are in a different situation from other victims.

They may well not have the confidence or knowledge to report the crime.

It is often years before they can bring themselves to approach the police. All this means rape on an underage person needs to be regarded, and handled, almost as a separate category of crime.

Mr Alston is right in saying the figures must be analysed in more detail. First comes understanding of what underlies this grim statistic.

Then the fight to reduce it can begin.