Consultation with experts on the prevention of sexual abuse of children: preparation of the Council of Europe Campaign to stop sexual violence against children

This report summarises the contributions of the participants who attended the meeting in December 2009 and is based on: the information given in presentations from the experts at the meeting; and the discussions that followed presentations and took place in plenary summary events

Youth gangs, sexual violence and sexual exploitation: a scoping exercise for the Office of the Children's Commissioner for England

This report presents the findings of a scoping exercise on the issue of youth gangs, sexual violence and sexual exploitation, derived from key informant interviews and a literature review

Challenging sexual violence in Europe: using participatory methods with children

The work was initiated and supported by the Council of Europe programme 'Building a Europe for and with Children', with the Institute of Applied Social ResearchThis report presents the findings of a desk top review into activities across Europe involving young people as participants in efforts to prevent sexual violence against children. The work was initiated and supported by the Council of Europe programme 'Building a Europe for and with Children', with the Institute of Applied Social Research

Six steps for independent scrutiny: safeguarding children partnership arrangements

Section 1: Introduction This paper emerges from the author’s independent consideration of scrutiny of safeguarding children partnerships under the new arrangements for safeguarding children as outlined in 'Working Together to Safeguard Children’ (DfE, 2018). The author holds sole responsibility for the contents of the paper. The Six Steps model (Section 4, page 6) can be adapted in any way needed, extending or reducing the number of steps and extending or reducing the number of questions in each step

Providing safe and supported accommodation for young people who are in the care system and who are at risk of, or experiencing, sexual exploitation or trafficking for sexual exploitation

This report presents the findings of a scoping study into accommodation for young people at risk of/experiencing sexual exploitation. The scoping study took place January to March 2011 and included a literature search, consultation with young people, consultation with practitioners and development of a full research proposal. The research was funded by the NSPCC

Evidence-based models of policing to protect children from sexual exploitation

This research, carried out between 2015 and 2017 was undertaken by a team at the International Centre: Researching child sexual exploitation, trafficking and violence at the University of Bedfordshire. The International Centre has an established reputation for child-centred research and recently completed an initiative joint funded by the Home Office, Higher Education Funding Council for England and College of Policing to improve and share learning on policing child sexual exploitation (CSE) (see website https://www.uobcsepolicinghub.org.uk/). The original overarching aim of this research project was “to improve multi-agency work with police to prevent child sexual exploitation”. It was funded by KPMG Foundation and Norfolk Constabulary, supported by The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) Lead for Child Protection and Abuse Investigation. This research is the first study of its kind. It is the first to document examples of current operating models of police responses to CSE in England and Wales; the first to attempt to draw out summaries of how features of policing improve disruption and prosecution of offenders; and the first study to assess the features of CSE policing responses in relation to the outcomes for victims. The research involved interviewing police officers and civilian staff including researchers and analysts from CSE teams across eight selected study forces in England

Tackling child sexual exploitation: a study of current practice in London

This report was commissioned by London Councils and the London Safeguarding Children Board and written by Beckett, H; Firmin, C; Hynes, P and Pearce JIn autumn 2013, London Councils commissioned a team of researchers from the University of Bedfordshire to map current responses to child sexual exploitation (CSE) across London. This summary report presents an overview of the key findings of the study; please refer to the full report for further details on, and context to, the study.1 The study was conducted in October / November 2013. The findings are drawn from an in-depth quantitative survey (completed by 30 London boroughs and local safeguarding children boards) and eight semi-structured interviews with statutory and voluntary sector providers. The report provides a snapshot of current responses to CSE across London, in relation to: Local scoping of the issue; Local policies and procedures; Training and awareness raising; Identification and early intervention (re. victims and perpetrators); Responding to cases of CSE (re. victims and perpetrators); and Overarching reflections on progress and challenges. Although there is still much progress to be made, the report encouragingly demonstrates that significant work is underway within this field, with pertinent learning emerging from a number of different boroughs

Gathering evidence of the sexual exploitation of children and young people: a scoping exercise

The government commissioned this scoping exercise to provide insight into the progress being made to challenge the perpetrators of child sexual exploitation, to report on emerging good practice and to identify the barriers and challenges that local partnerships are facing. The government’s coordinated prostitution strategy responded to the evidence submitted in response to the consultation document, Paying the Price, and recognised that abusers seek out vulnerable children and young people, offering what appears to be affection and friendship. The reality can be that they are manipulated to become so dependent on their abusers that they can be coerced into sexual activity. Research also shows that young people often become sexually exploited as a result of long term social exclusion, poverty and deprivation and that there are complex relationships between sexual exploitation and ‘risk factors’ such as problem drug and alcohol use, poor mental and physical health and previous experiences of abuse. It also shows that boys and young men can be affected as well as girls and young women. Many local partnerships have built up considerable experience in safeguarding victims and developing strategies to help them to move on from exploitative relationships in safety and security

Families and Communities Against Child Sexual Exploitation (FCASE) : final evaluation report

This is the final evaluation report for the Barnardo’s Families and Communities Against Sexual Exploitation project (FCASE), produced by the International Centre, researching Child Sexual Exploitation, Violence and Trafficking at the University of Bedfordshire. The programme was launched in April 2013, funded by the Department for Education (DfE) and concluded in March 2015. The evaluation was undertaken during the same period. The FCASE model has been piloted in three sites, which for the purposes of this report have been anonymised and will be referred to using pseudonyms. It consists of the following elements: a structured programme of six to eight weeks direct work with young people and families where a risk of child sexual exploitation (CSE) has been identified; delivery of CSE training with professionals; and undertaking community awareness raising. The evaluation has been informed by a range of qualitative data. The report identifies the elements that work well and some of the challenges in its implementation. This had been done in order to determine good practice in supporting families and communities and embed more effective practice on protecting children and young people, including those in foster care, from sexual exploitation, harnessing the protective factors within a child’s family and/or foster home. The learning from the project is intended to help other agencies to implement the FCASE model. An on-line learning resource is to be produced in order to facilitate this process

Outreach work : child sexual exploitation : a rapid evidence assessment

This briefing is based on a rapid review of the available literature on outreach work with children and young people. It is intended to provide the ReachOut project with an overview of different approaches to outreach; what it generally aims to achieve; what distinguishes it from centre--‐based work and how it is applicable to children and young people involved in, or at risk of, child sexual exploitation. We highlight what is known about ‘detached’ and other approaches that aim to reach vulnerable populations who are not accessing mainstream services. We hope it will be useful in informing ReachOut’s thinking about the role and value of its own outreach activities