SEX crimes against male victims have increased massively in the space of a decade in Bradford, with 60 per cent of those who have complained to police also aged under 13.

In the year 2000, there were only four offences reported against male victims in the Bradford district, with all four victims being children and three of them aged under 13.

By last year, there were 58 offences in Bradford during the first ten months, meaning a likely total of 70 for the full year, with eight more in Ilkley, seven in Shipley and six in Keighley.

Police attribute the rise at least partly to the number of historic sexual offences now being reported and increased confidence that victims will be treated with sensitivity and the information they offer will be taken seriously.

But the rising scale of the problem has also seen the emergence of support services to assist victims of such crimes.

Research was commissioned on sexual offending against men and young boys in Bradford in 2001, when official reports of such crimes were rare.

That led to the charity BLAST being established in 2003, offering support for boys and young men who have become the victims of sex crimes.

The organisation has spread from Bradford to go national and last year organised a campaign to raise awareness of male child sexual exploitation.

Next month the Staying Put organisation, which assists female victims of domestic violence, is extending its services in the city to provide help for male survivors.

Many of its female clients are also victims of sexual abuse and spokesman Yasmin Khan told the Telegraph & Argus she expected that to be repeated when men started to use the service more frequently.

That is being financed by the local authority and NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups in Bradford.

"I expect we will have males from same sex relationships but the pattern may be different to that for females," she said.

Detective Chief Inspector Terry Long, head of Safeguarding at Bradford District with West Yorkshire Police, said: “Sexual offences of any kind in Bradford district are treated extremely seriously, with investigations handled directly by specially trained officers.

"This response is the same regardless of the victim’s gender and services provide equal support to girls and boys alike to encourage reporting.

“Bradford District has a dedicated unit which handles both investigations and victim care.

"Reporting of these offences is encouraged, and recent high profile cases are helping people to feel more empowered and confident to report instances of abuse in Bradford, particularly historic offences.

"Victims of sexual abuse in Bradford can be reassured that their reports will be dealt with sensitively and robust investigations will be carried out. There is a higher proportion of reporting against children, clearly as a result of their vulnerability."

West Yorkshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner, Mark Burns-Williamson, said: “We are aware that the number of sexual offences have increased over time and it can in part be attributable to three key factors that include increases in historical reporting - historic offences used to account for one in ten of all cases reported, but now accounts for one in five.

“It can also be down to proactive Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) operations and campaigns.

“It may also be that in the wake of publicity associated with Savile and other historical abuse cases, more adult survivors of child sexual abuse, as well as more recent victims, have felt empowered to come forward."

The commissioner has given financial support to BLAST and that charity's spokesman, Phil Mitchell, told the T&A it was impossible to know the full scale of such offending.

BLAST runs a confidential service and would not pass details of victims who approached them to police without consent.

Mr Mitchell said: "Some don't want to talk to police and we have to be led by them."

BLAST's work was try to ensure the safety of victims and in some cases they were allowing themselves to be sexually abused for payment.

Locking up perpetrators did not always make the victim safer as they may drift towards other offenders: "We want to get people making safer decisions," he said.

BLAST can be contacted via its website, mesmac.co.uk/blast