Child Sexual Exploitation delivered by Domestics toilets timings
Child Sexual Exploitation delivered by:
Domestics toilets timings fire exits phones breaks confidentiality insert course image
Etiquette for today • Respect each others views and opinions • All discussions are confidential • Enjoy the day and all contribute our own expertise • A chance to share issues affecting you insert course image
Learning Outcomes: • Working together to identify, assess and meet the needs of children where there are concerns of CSE • Understanding the risks, signs, indicators and vulnerability for people at risk of CSE. • Impact of CSE on Young people, adults and their families. • Understanding of the Law relating to CSE, consent. • Taking action to protect those at risk or like at risk of CSE. • Understanding of working with complexity and resistance • Raised awareness on how to develop strategies for communication with children and adolescents.
What is Child Sexual Exploitation?
What Is Child Sexual Exploitation? “Sexual Exploitation of children and young people under the age of 18 involves exploitative situations contexts and relationships where the child or young person ( or third person/s) receives something (e. g. food accommodation drugs alcohol cigarettes affection gifts money)as a result of them performing, and/or others performing on them, sexual activities. Child Sexual Exploitation can occur through the use of technology without the child’s immediate recognition”. (Association of Chief Police Officers CSE REPORT 2013)
CSE And The Law • The age of criminal responsibility is 10. Crime and disorder Act 1998 • To protect younger children, the law says children aged under 13 years can never legally give consent, so any sexual activity with a child aged 12 years or under will be subject to the maximum penalties. • The age of consent for sexual activities is 16. Criminal Law Act 1995 • The commonly accepted age of adulthood is 18. Children’s Act 1989/2004 and ECHR 2003
Consent & what the Law says; • It is not just being 16 & saying ‘yes’ • The age of consent for sexual activity is 16 (criminal Law act 1995). Below this age, even with consent, any sexual act is illegal. What do you believe ‘consent’ means?
Legal Definition Of Consent A person ‘consents’ if they agree by choice and have the freedom and the capacity to make that choice. Section 74 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003
What does freedom, choice & capacity mean? • Freedom & choice – to have this, means there are no concerns for you if you say no. • Capacity – have the age & understanding & agree to the activity knowing exactly what the activity means and what it is. Ø Capacity may be compromised if there is a learning difficulty, or if drugs or alcohol have been consumed. Ø Capacity may be compromised if the victim has suffered emotional trauma.
Some of our challenges…. • Navigating our way through adolescence and towards adulthood involves: – Experimenting and taking risks – Perceiving risks differently – Rejecting authority and control The Sexual Offences Act 2003 reinforces that, whilst mutually agreed, non-exploitative sexual activity between teenagers does take place and that often no harm comes from it, however, the age of consent should still remain at 16. This acknowledges that this group of young people is still vulnerable, even when they do not view themselves as such. ‘Suffolk Safeguarding Children Board – Working with Sexually Active Young People under the age of 18’
Consent and a cup of tea
What We Know • Age – Sexual exploitation often starts as young as 11 -12 • Gender – affects girls and boys • Ethnicity – happens in all communities • Vulnerability - any young person can be targeted Jago and Pearce (2008)
The Push and Pull of Vulnerability
PUSH: • History of abuse/neglect • Exposure to domestic violence and abuse • Parental vulnerabilities: substance misuse, mental illness, learning disability • Family breakdown, disrupted home life and/or bereavement • Low self-esteem • Poor self-image • Physical or learning impairments • Immigration status, ethnic minority • Environmental factors: gangs, poverty, local resources • Lack of awareness and understanding • Trouble at school • Peer Pressure
PULL: • Getting attention from someone older • • • Meet someone who thinks they are special Acceptance from peers Receiving alcohol, drugs money or gifts Sense of confidence Excitement of the risk Being offered somewhere to stay where there are no rules Feeling Loved and cared for Gang acceptance/initiation Being treated like an adult Being given lifts, taken to new places Sense of belonging Sense of independence
Who are more vulnerable? • Children in Care • Children Leaving Care • Children with learning difficulties, including speech, language and communication needs • Young Carers • Children and young people living in poverty • Children who go missing However, anybody can be vulnerable and can be targeted for child exploitation.
What is GROOMING?
The word grooming is used to describe the process that abusive adults use to trick a child or young person into believing they are trustworthy so that they can eventually sexually exploit the young person. (Barnardo’s). What perpetrators do to establish TRUST and an EMOTIONAL CONNECTION with someone, in order to get them to engage in ILLEGAL sexual behaviour and to EXPLOIT them.
The Grooming Line (Barnardo’s, 1989) The targeting stage • Observing the child/young person • Selection of child/young person Friendship forming stage Loving relationship stage Abusive relationship stage • Making young people feel special • Being their boyfriend/girlfriend • Becomes an ‘unloving’ sexual relationship • Giving gifts and rewards • Establishing a sexual relationship • Withdrawal of love and friendship • Lowering their inhibitions – e. g. showing them pornography • Reinforcing dependency on them – stating young person is ‘damaged goods’ • ‘No one understands you like I do’; being their best friend • Engaging them in forbidden activities – e. g. going to clubs, drinking, taking drugs • Isolation from family and friends • Testing out physical contact – accidental touching • Being inconsistent – building up hope and then punishing them • Threatening behaviour • Befriending – being nice, giving gifts, caring, taking an interest, giving compliments, etc • Spending time together • Gaining and developing trust • Being there for them • Sharing information about young people • between other abusive adults • Listening and remembering • Keeping secrets • Offering protection • Trickery and manipulation – ‘you owe me’ • Physical violence • Sexual assaults • Making them have sex with other people • Giving them drugs • Playing on the young person’s feeling of guilt, shame and fear
boyfriend girlfriend Grooming Processes Gangs and groups Online Party
Matt thought he knew
Online predators are master manipulators. They build relationships and trust with their victims. They know how to turn an online ‘friendship’ into an online relationship which may develop into an offline relationship. Social network – encrypted apps – meeting offline Over time, victims grow to trust the predator. Victims who are threatened, persuaded or blackmailed may begin to send images via apps/devices or meet offline.
CYP risky behaviours online Posting personal information publicly Interacting with strangers online ‘Friending’ people they don’t know in real life Talking about or exploring sex online Easily persuaded to move conversations onto privacy apps • Looking at pornography • • •
Wider societal influences and sexting Self generated sexualised images of young people can be used in maltreatment, exploitation, or victimisation. These images provide material which other young people can use to bully or humiliate others.
• Many young people willingly upload explicit images of themselves and some may perceive this as empowering and exciting, and so would resist any claim that they are being ‘objectified’. (NSPCC, 2011)
Suffolk Conference ©Leonard Consultancy 2017
‘Sick party’
PARTY STYLE GROOMING The parties are often set up purely with the intention of grooming and exploiting young people. Drugs and alcohol are usually offered for free as an incentive to attend more parties, this technique engages groups of young people who see the parties as fun, harmless and enjoyable. It is only after weeks of attending these parties that repayment is discussed. Sometimes, Perpetrators use the fact that young people have ‘enjoyed’ their offering of drugs and alcohol and suggest they need to find a way of paying back if they want to continue to attend more parties. What makes Party Lifestyle particularly challenging is the number of perpetrators present at the parties who are often introduced under aliases or with nicknames. Moreover, usually when young people are asked to ‘repay’ for their consumption of drink, drugs, takeaways, phone credit etc, they often oblige as either they don’t want to be left out of the parties and or they’re scared. The transition from young people receiving tangible gifts to the common use of phone credit, takeaways, drugs and alcohol make it increasingly more difficult to identify certain signs of CSE. Professionals need to question how young people gained access to alcohol, particularly if they’re under-aged and with no obvious form of income. ” http: //www. safeguardingchildrenea. co. uk/resources/party-lifestyle-model-new-face-grooming -uk/
Children experiencing abuse in their relationships what the research says: • Two thirds of contact sexual abuse experienced by children <17 perpetrated by someone <18 (Radford et al. , 2011) • Nearly one third 16 -18 year old girls report unwanted sexual touching in school (End Violence Against Women, 2010)
Children experiencing abuse in their relationships -what the research says: • ¼ sexual exploitation service users abused by their peers (Barnado’s, 2011) • 1: 5 14 -17 yr old girls experienced physical violence from boyfriend and 4: 10 sexual coercion (Barter et al. , 2015)
Other messages from research • There are links between sexualised behaviour, sexual violence and self esteem. • Girls in particular seem to associate sexualised behaviour, and being in a relationship with the attainment of status, particularly if they have an older partner. • Girls who have high self esteem, or who get their status from different sources, such as education, hobbies or employment, are less likely to be victims of sexual violence. (NSPCC, 2011)
Jessica’s story We have a real laugh, a few drinks and it’s fun Kyle said his mate fancied me It was ok to begin with I am 15 Live with my Dad and sister I got a new i phone. . Well chuffed! School is boring; no harm in bunking school Kyle said I could try some…. He’d cover the cost Some of them smoke a bit of dope…. No harm in that? ? Dad likes a drink … lots of drink Dad provided the rest of the cash After I slept with him I realised I’d been used…. I’ve made some really good mates at the internet café down the road Dad was a good cash supply … he never noticed I needed more cash… it doesn’t go far
Indicators Of Child Sexual Exploitation • Going missing for periods of time or regularly coming home late; • Regularly missing school or not taking part in education; • • Appearing with unexplained gifts or new possessions (often new mobile phones / Jewellery) associating with other young people involved in exploitation; • Having older boyfriends or girlfriends; • Suffering from sexually transmitted infections; • Mood swings or changes in emotional wellbeing; • Drug and alcohol misuse; • Displaying inappropriate sexualised behaviour.
Barriers To Taking Action Grooming strategies can mirror normality Young person describes themselves as being in love Young person is cautious / reluctant about engaging Lack of evidence of offences committed Uncertainty about what happens next for the child and their family. • Going missing • Professionals reluctant to ask straightforward questions • • •
Case study: Paula • What were the push and pull factors towards exploitation and involvement in high- end criminal activity? • Imagine the inter-agency and interprofessional intervention plan that could have achieved the end positive outcome for Paula
How should sexually exploited young people be supported? • • Speak up for them Listen to them Be there for them Care for them Understand their needs Reduce the risks Make plans with them
CSE Alerts by Area 2016 April 2016 May 2016 June 2016 July 2016 August (so far) Total Central & South Suffolk 4 3 4 5 5 21 (12. 0%) Ipswich North & East and Coastal 2 1 5 13 6 27 (15. 4%) Ipswich South & West 3 1 7 16 10 37 (21. 1%) Lowestoft and Waveney 13 2 5 19 8 47 (26. 9%) West 9 3 12 5 11 40 (22. 9%) Out of Area 0 1 1 3 (1. 7%) Total 31 11 33 59 41 175
Roles And Responsibilities - Individuals • Recognise the symptoms and distinguish from normality • Treat the child as a victim of abuse • Understand their perspective, behaviour and have patience • Help the child to recognise that they are being exploited • Collate as much information as possible but • Share information and/or refer at the earliest opportunity
Roles And Responsibilities - Organisations • Ensure robust safeguarding policies and procedures are in place (and cover CSE) and that they are actioned. • Actively promote effective multi-agency working. • Work together to prevent abuse- share what you know, and your hypotheses. • Work together to help children and young people move out of exploitation. • Co-operate to enable successful investigation and prosecution of perpetrators.
Referring concerns Any professional who is concerned that a child or young person may be at risk of, or is actually suffering exploitation is able to make a referral to the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) by completing a Multi-Agency Referral Form (MARF). If the risk is imminent a referral can be made by telephone and then followed up with a completed MARF within 24 hours.
Key Messages To Professionals • Good communication / information sharing is essential. • Early identification & prevention. • A multi-disciplinary approach. • A recognition of links between sexual exploitation, pornography & coercive adults / paedophiles. • A flexible & responsive approach to engaging and supporting children and young people. • Early identification of adults who target, exploit and abuse children, by notifying the Local Authority Contact; mac@suffolk. gcsx. gov. uk Office Number; 01473 282352
What can we all do? • Hone our active listening, communication and observation skills with children and young people • Ensure our own knowledge and insight is current • Follow safeguarding protocols • Share information with the police • Always report missing children and young people • Share concerns with other professionals.
What next • Modern Slavery (3 hours workshop) • FGM, HBV, FM (3 hours workshop)
- Slides: 49