My child is asking to join the scouts and I’m in two minds.

I was sceptical about my son joining scouts too - not for the same reasons but because it seemed a bit military-ish for me.

He absolutely loves it though.

Find one with a female leader?

I know women can also abuse children, but statistically it is much less likely...

(from ONS: "perpetrators of child sexual abuse were most often male (91.3%)")

Personally, I don't really agree with your worry in general, but if you have this concern and want a logical way of lowering the (already tiny) risk, then finding a group with a female leader would seem to be a logical choice.

Maybe it is just pure random chance, but actually 3 of the 4 scout leaders I've known in my life have been women anyway...

You can join scouts without doing overnight trips.

Safeguarding is important with anyone you leave your child with not just scouts. That includes school, church, sports and family members.

My teenager is in Scouts, joined Beavers around 6 or 7 I think. What age is your child? That will depend how many opportunities there are for overnights away. You can always say no to overnights, it is not compulsory. Every unit is different but I don’t remember many overnights in Beavers, a small number. Things like sleepovers in a church hall or trampoline park. Small number of camping opportunities. This is 5 -7, so quite young. Then comes cubs 7-10. Opportunities increase for camping sometimes but not always at Scout Centres which offer outdoor education opportunities like climbing, kayaking, cycling etc.
In scouts age 10 to 14, things can really take off in opportunities if your child wants to. Nothing is compulsory, stuff is offered but you don’t have to sign up for it.

My kids have done several 6 day summer camps within a 2 -3 hr drive, 2 European trips of 10 days, there are various jamborees round the world they can apply for. Options this year included Iceland or Scotland. These have scouts from round the world. The Scout World jamboree is in Poland in 2027, another great opportunity.

My kids have loved it. One in particular has really thrived and loves to apply for jamborees abroad. They talk about being a scout leader when they age out of Scouts. The other prefers local activities and isn’t keen on camping!

in terms of safeguarding, my experience has been positive. I remember dropping my kid down to the local church hall for the weekly scout night and they couldn’t go inside because there was only one scout leader there at the time. Single sex when it comes to sharing a tent.

My job involves exposure to historical abuse and there are many ways it can occur. I don’t think scouts is any riskier than life in general. Sadly much abuse takes place within the home. The biggest threats to our children’s safety are other males in the family. Sad but true. If you have a child who yearns for scouts I would let them try it, the opportunities for personal growth are significant for those who want to.

Scout camps don't happen all year round - at the most there will be one or two a year (in the summer months) and taking part is not obligatory!

Think you should let them join, and go along to the weekly meetings, and have lots of fun & new experiences, and then see how you feel about the group/ the adult leaders/ their safeguarding in practice as well as policy.

They're bound to ask if anyone's parents can help out with any camping events that take place, so maybe you could volunteer?

Why not volunteer to be a helper? Scouting depends on parent/helpers and it will give you a good insight into how the group is run.

The Safeguarding policies, practice, and training at Scouts have been way ahead of schools for a long, long time.

Do you let your child go to school ?

Scouts have exactly the same histoical safeguarding issues as schools, churches, children’s homes, etc etc. They have also tightened up their policies. So you do the same as with every decision about your child going places: check it out by looking and speaking to the leaders yourself, ask other parents about the group, ask your child if they like/dislike it, talk to your kids about safe touch, good/bad secrets etc. You can’t wrap them up in cotton wool forever