1.3.12 Safeguarding Children and Young People from Sexual Exploitation

1. Introduction

The sexual exploitation of children is child sexual abuse and is completely unacceptable. It occurs where an individual or group takes advantage of an imbalance of power to coerce, manipulate or deceive a child or young person under the age of 18 into sexual activity (a) in exchange for something the victim needs or wants, and/or (b) for the financial advantage or increased status of the perpetrator or facilitator. The victim may have been sexually exploited even if the sexual activity appears consensual. Child sexual exploitation does not always involve physical contact; it can also occur through the use of technology. Working Together to Safeguard Children.

See also Child Sexual Exploitation: Definition and Guide for Practitioners (DfE 2017). This advice is non-statutory, and has been produced to help practitioners to identify child sexual exploitation and take appropriate action in response. This advice includes the management, disruption and prosecution of perpetrators.

Like all forms of child sexual abuse, child sexual exploitation:

• Can affect any child or young person (male or female) under the age of 18 years, including 16 and 17 year olds who can legally consent to have sex;
• Can still be abuse even if the sexual activity appears consensual;
• Can include both contact (penetrative and non-penetrative acts) and non-contact sexual activity;
• Can take place in person or via technology, or a combination of both;
• Can involve force and/or enticement-based methods of compliance and may, or may not, be accompanied by violence or threats of violence;
• May occur without the child or young person's immediate knowledge (through others copying videos or images they have created and posting on social media, for example);
• Can be perpetrated by individuals or groups, males or females, and children or adults. The abuse can be a one-off occurrence or a series of incidents over time, and range from opportunistic to complex organised abuse;
• Is typified by some form of power imbalance in favour of those perpetrating the abuse. Whilst age may be the most obvious, this power imbalance can also be due to a range of other factors including gender, sexual identity, cognitive ability, physical strength, status, and access to economic or other resources.

Children and young people may have already been sexually exploited before they are referred to children's social care; others may become targets of perpetrators whilst living at home or during placements. They are often the focus of perpetrators of Sexual Abuse due to their vulnerability. All staff and foster carers should therefore create an environment which educates children and young people about child sexual exploitation, involving relevant outside agencies where appropriate. They should encourage them to discuss any such concerns with them, another member of staff, or with someone from a specialist child sexual exploitation project, and also feel able to share any such concerns about their friends.

The National Working Group for Sexually Exploited Children and Young People defines sexual exploitation as:

'Sexual exploitation of children and young people under 18 involves exploitative situations, contexts and relationships where young people (or a third person or persons) receive 'something' (e.g. food, accommodation, drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, affection, gifts, money) as a result of them performing, and/or another or others performing on them, sexual activities. Child sexual exploitation can occur through use of technology without the child's immediate recognition; for example the persuasion to post sexual images on the internet / mobile phones with no immediate payment or gain. In all cases, those exploiting the child / young person have power over them by virtue of their age, gender, intellect, physical strength and / or economic or other resources. Violence, coercion and intimidation are common, involvement in exploitative relationships being characterised in the main by the child or young person's limited availability of choice resulting from their social / economic and / or emotional vulnerability'.

Principles

The principles underpinning our response to the sexual exploitation of children and young people are as follows:

• Sexual exploitation includes sexual, physical and emotional abuse, and, in some cases, neglect;
• Children and young people do not make informed choices to enter or remain in sexual exploitation, but do so due to coercion, enticement, manipulation or desperation;
• Young people under 16 cannot consent to sexual activity: sexual activity with children under the age of 13 is statutory rape - see Sheffield Children Safeguarding Partnership Child Protection and Safeguarding Procedures, Working with Sexually Active Young People;
• Sexually exploited children and young people should be treated as victims of abuse, not as offenders;
• Many sexually exploited young people have difficulty distinguishing between their own choices about sex and sexuality, and the sexual activities they are coerced into. This potential confusion should be handled with care and sensitivity by practitioners;
• The primary law enforcement effort must be made against the coercers and adults who sexually exploit young people. In some cases young people themselves may exploit other young people, and in these cases law enforcement action may also be necessary.

2. Indicators of Possible Sexual Exploitation

Children and young people involved in any form of sexual exploitation face immense risks to their physical, emotional and psychological health. The environment in which sexual exploitation is located tends to have close links with criminal behaviour, drug and alcohol misuse and violence. Children and young people drawn into this kind of sexual abuse therefore become exposed to these risks. There has been a higher incidence of murder associated with commercial sexual exploitation than is the case in the general population, and they are also more vulnerable to other violent acts such as rape, physical and sexual assaults and coercion into pornography.

The earlier that sexual exploitation, or a risk of sexual exploitation, can be identified, the more likely it is that harm to a child or young person can be minimised or prevented. Practitioners, therefore, should be aware of the indicators of sexual exploitation as detailed below. It should not be read as a definitive list and the indicators should not be taken, in themselves, as proof of involvement or predictive of future involvement. They are intended as a guide, which could be included in a wider assessment of the child or young person's needs and circumstances. In effective practice, the facts for each child or young person should be considered separately.

Anyone who has regular contact with children and young people is in a good position to notice changes in behaviour and physical signs which may indicate involvement in sexual exploitation. However, parents, carers, teachers, doctors and youth workers are particularly well placed to do so. They should also be able to recognise where children and young people are vulnerable to sexual exploitation and may need targeted measures to prevent such abuse. The primary concern of anyone who comes into contact with a child or young person who is vulnerable to being sexually exploited must be to safeguard and promote their welfare.

An unsubstantiated allegation that a child or young person has established associations, or who may be on the periphery of sexual exploitation or sex work should be considered carefully. None of the following indicators, whether singly or in combination, should be viewed as conclusive proof of involvement in sexual exploitation, but a combination of them may be taken as suggestive of the possibility.

The following indicators are for both girls / boys, and young women / men.

• History of abuse (including familial child sexual abuse, risk of forced marriage, risk of honour based violence, physical and emotional abuse and neglect);
• Recent bereavement or loss;
• Gang-association either through relatives, peers or intimate relationships (in cases of gang associated CSE only).

Attending school with children and young people who are already sexually:

• Typical vulnerabilities in children prior to abuse;
  • Living in a chaotic or dysfunctional household (including parental substance use, domestic violence, parental mental health issues, parental criminality) exploited;
  • Learning disabilities;
  • Unsure about their sexual orientation or unable to disclose sexual orientation to their families;
  • Friends with young people who are sexually exploited;
  • Homeless;
  • Lacking friends from the same age group;
  • Living in a gang neighbourhood;
  • Living in residential care;
  • Living in hostel, bed and breakfast accommodation or a foyer;
  • Low self-esteem or self-confidence;
  • Young carer.

Signs and behaviour generally seen in children who are already being sexually exploited:

• Missing from home or care;
• Physical injuries;
• Drug or alcohol misuse;
• Involvement in offending;
• Repeat sexually-transmitted infections, pregnancy and terminations;
• Absent from school;
• Change in physical appearance;
• Evidence of sexual bullying and/or vulnerability through the internet and/or social networking sites;
• Estranged from their family;
• Receipt of gifts from unknown sources;
• Recruiting others into exploitative situations;
• Poor mental health;
• Self-harm;
• Thoughts of or attempts at suicide.

It is important to be aware that many children and young people who are sexually exploited do not see themselves as victims. In such situations, discussions with them about concerns should be handled with great sensitivity.

In assessing whether a child or young person is a victim of sexual exploitation, or at risk, careful consideration should be given to the issue of consent. It is important to bear in mind that:

• A child under the age of 13 is not legally capable of consenting to sex (it is statutory rape) or any other type of sexual touching;
• Sexual activity with a child under 16 is also an offence;
• It is an offence for a person to have a sexual relationship with a 16 or 17 year old if they hold a position of trust or authority in relation to them;
• Where sexual activity with a 16 or 17 year old does not result in an offence being committed, it may still result in harm, or the likelihood of harm being suffered;
• Non-consensual sex is rape whatever the age of the victim; and
• If the victim is incapacitated through drink or drugs, or the victim or his or her family has been subject to violence or the threat of it, they cannot be considered to have given true consent; therefore offences may have been committed;
• Child sexual exploitation is therefore potentially a child protection issue for all children under the age of 18 years and not just those in a specific age group.

Sexual exploitation is child abuse which can take a number of forms. Harper and Scott (2005) define it as the following:

• Situations where children and young people are exploited by family members;
• The involvement of children and young people in sexually exploitative relationships with older men or peers;
• The informal exchange of sex for favours, money, drugs, accommodation or other commodities;
• More 'formal' forms of sexual exploitation; Organised abuse;
• Trafficking.

Sexual exploitation occurs in a social context of abuse towards women. However, it not just girls and young women who are sexually exploited; boys and young men may be victims too. Abusers and coercers - who are predominantly, but not always, men - often physically, sexually and emotionally abuse children and young people and in some situations, may effectively imprison them.

Children and young people make constrained choices against a background of social, economic and emotional vulnerability; it is not a 'free choice'. Because of either their age or their needs, they are unable to give truly informed consent to this activity.

Trafficking

There are two different types of trafficking of children and young people for the purposes of sexual exploitation. Firstly, there is trafficking from abroad into the United Kingdom (see Sheffield Children Safeguarding Partnership Child Protection and Safeguarding Procedures, Children from Abroad, including Victims of Modern Slavery, Trafficking and Exploitation. The second category is internal trafficking, where children and young people are moved from one place to another in the UK for the purposes of sexual exploitation. This may be from one street to a neighbouring street, from one area of a town or city to another area, or across county borders. It is not the distance that is relevant in the definition of internal trafficking, but the movement of a child or young person for the purpose of sexual exploitation.

The National Referral Mechanism

The National Referral Mechanism is a process set up by the Government to identify and support victims of trafficking in the UK. he National Referral Mechanism (NRM) is a framework for identifying victims of human trafficking and ensuring they receive the appropriate protection and support.

The NRM is for all victims of modern slavery in England and Wales following the implementation of the Modern Slavery Act 2015.

Modern slavery is comprised of:

• Human trafficking;
• Slavery, servitude and forced or compulsory labour

Modern slavery, including child trafficking, is child abuse. When an agency comes into contact with a child who may have been exploited or trafficked, Local Authority Children's Services and the police should be notified immediately. A referral into the NRM does not replace or supersede established child protection processes, which should continue in tandem, such as a Section 47 investigation.

Principles

The principles underpinning SCSP multi-agency response to the sexual exploitation of children and young people are as follows:

• Sexual exploitation includes sexual, physical and emotional abuse, and, in some cases, neglect;
• Children and young people do not make informed choices to enter or remain in sexual exploitation, but do so due to coercion, enticement, manipulation or desperation;
• Young people under 16 cannot consent to sexual activity: sexual activity with children under the age of 13 is statutory rape - see Sheffield Children Safeguarding Partnership Child Protection and Safeguarding Procedures, Working with Sexually Active Young People;
• Sexually exploited children and young people should be treated as victims of abuse, not as offenders;
• Many sexually exploited young people have difficulty distinguishing between their own choices about sex and sexuality, and the sexual activities they are coerced into. This potential confusion should be handled with care and sensitivity by practitioners;
• The primary law enforcement effort must be made against the coercers and adults who sexually exploit young people. In some cases young people themselves may exploit other young people, and in these cases law enforcement action may also be necessary.

3. Children and Young People who go Missing

A significant number of children and young people who are being sexually exploited may go Missing from home or care, and education. Some go missing frequently; the more often they go missing the more vulnerable they are to being sexually exploited. If a child does go missing, the Children Missing from Home or Care Procedure should be followed (see Sheffield Children Safeguarding Partnership Child Protection and Safeguarding Procedures, South Yorkshire Missing from Home and Care Protocol).

Independent Return Interviews with the child or young person are undertaken in Sheffield by the Missing Young Persons Team based within the Amber project. Statutory guidance requires local authorities to offer independent missing return interview to all missing children. They provide an opportunity to uncover information that can help protect children from the risk of further missing episodes, from risks they may be exposed to whilst missing or from risk factors in their home or local community.

A good return interview can:

• Provide understanding and address the reasons why a child has run away;
• Identify harm that may have occurred whilst the child was away;
• Allow professionals to identify actions to address and prevent further risks;
• Help children feel safe;
• Provide children with information on how to stay safe.

They are offered to EVERY child or young person in Sheffield who goes missing. They are an opportunity for all children and young people to have a chat with someone who is not involved in their care to talk about why they went missing, harm reduction and strategies to prevent further missing episodes.

If you know that a young person has been missing; ask them if they have had a discussion about being missing. Let them know you can request one on their behalf, as even though they will already have been offered; sometimes young people change their mind at a later date.

4. Protection and Action to be Taken

See Contacts and Referrals Procedure.

It is important that practitioners are open to the fact that children and young people do not always recognise that they are being sexually exploited. They will often not wish to disclose information relating to their exploitation due to fear of repercussions and also the fear of losing the relationship or group they belong to and identify with.

If any practitioner believes that a child or young person is at risk of, or is being sexually exploited, the Sheffield Child Exploitation Screening Tool needs to be completed.

The screening tool is a live template within the Liquid Logic electronic record system LCS and EHM. It is accessed through "Forms" Child Exploitation and SHB Risk Assessment.

The screening tool is designed to be used by all professionals working with children and their parents or carers. This tool will help you to make an initial judgement regarding the risk of child exploitation; it is neither a specialist assessment or referral form. The tool will help practitioners to focus on the specific child exploitation (CE) evidence, indicators, existing safety and vulnerabilities, and determine whether further investigations are needed by Children's Social Care or referral to another prevention and early intervention service.

When you are considering a referral to the Sheffield Safeguarding Hub (Children's Social Care) or sharing your concerns with the child's allocated social worker, this screening tool should form the basis of those discussions and your professional analysis.

Practitioners need to exercise their professional judgement when using this tool because factors such as the child's age, additional vulnerabilities, their history, may mean that the child is more vulnerable to CSE. Professional judgement also includes concerns that you can evidence as well as concerns based on 'gut feeling'. It is important that you differentiate between the two and provide explanation and rationale. It is important to include the child's strengths and existing safety so that this can be considered.

Where the screening tool identifies indicators of risk which suggest a child or young person may be involved in, or at risk of sexual exploitation, you should contact the Sheffield Safeguarding Hub immediately. Where insufficient evidence is provided regarding the risk of child sexual exploitation the referrer should continue to support the young person and be vigilant of any safeguarding concerns and gather any additional information which may evidence their concerns.

On receipt of a referral regarding a child or young person the member of staff in Children's Social Care Safeguarding hub must consider the information presented by the referrer against the child exploitation screening tool. The screening social worker will be responsible for making the appropriate referral, dependent on where the child or young person referred falls within the continuum of need. All contacts and actions should be promptly recorded, and where existing professional relationships are present, those workers should be informed of the referral and asked if they have any concerns and be advised of the outcome of the referral.

Once the social worker has completed the CE screening tool "Child Exploitation and SHB Risk Assessment" a case discussion should be held with the SFM to discuss the findings. If there are indicators and evidence of child exploitation vulnerabilities then SFM makes arrangements for the case to be subject to the Child Exploitation Vulnerability Tracker process within the safeguarding hub.

Where there is evidence of ongoing or likely significant harm, a strategy meeting will be held, during which the SFM will complete the Child Exploitation Vulnerability Tracker score sheet. If a strategy meeting is not required, the screening social worker will complete the Child Exploitation Vulnerability Tracker referral.

The Child Exploitation Vulnerability Tracker will provide an initial RAG rating regarding the level of exploitation risk which will assist in decision making on next steps. All cases initially RAG rated as Amber or Red will be heard at MACE (Multi-Agency Child Exploitation Meeting).

All cases RAG rated green will not be subject to MACE but a 12 week review date will be added to the CE Vulnerability Tracker and these cases will be subject to further review outside of the Safeguarding Hub.

5. MACE

Overview

The purpose of the MACE meeting is to provide operational management oversight of the risk management for individual children and groups of children identified as being vulnerable to child exploitation. We are aware that child exploitation takes places in the local community and therefore information known to statutory as well as voluntary sector agencies should be used to highlight the vulnerabilities, threats, to establish, and reduce risk. The MACE meeting will provide the framework to allow regular information sharing and action planning to tackle child exploitation across Sheffield.

The meeting will discuss concerns about children and young people who may be at risk from: CSE, CCE (including county lines), gang related crime and human trafficking that requires a multi-agency response. The meeting will take place weekly and will be chaired by a senior manager from Sheffield Children and Young Peoples Services. Safeguarding partners who will also attend the meeting will include, but not exhaustively, lead practitioners and managers from: Early Help, Children's Social Work Service, South Yorkshire Police, Youth Justice Service, Health Services, Community and Youth Teams. The MACE meeting will facilitate effective action to prevent and disrupt exploitation by:

• Supporting the effective sharing of relevant information in accordance with the MACE Information Sharing Agreement. (ISA);
• Enable agencies to identify those at risk of child exploitation as well as victims, perpetrators, and locations of concern; to aid disruption of perpetrators and provide support to victims and their families;
• Ensuring that all agencies are working together effectively to prevent, reduce, track and respond to children missing from home, care, or education, including those children in out of Sheffield placements;
• Providing advice and guidance, including the promoting of robust and proactive multi-agency investigations where a risk of exploitation has been identified, especially where children and young people do not perceive themselves as victims;
• Seek assurance from all relevant agencies that the full range of disruption measures are being used to target perpetrators;
• Monitor the effectiveness of return to home interviews in developing an understanding of risk and emerging safeguarding themes;
• Sharing information to understand the nature and extent of child exploitation in Sheffield, as well as enabling the identification of patterns and intelligence gaps.

MACE Meetings are not an alternative to safeguarding and child protection processes and where there is a concern about abuse or neglect within the family, including where parents/carers not acting protectively, the usual S.47 processes should be used and where necessary a Child Protection Plan will be made. MACE meetings can be held alongside Child Protection Conferences and Core Group Meetings.

MACE meetings identify victims and/or offenders in relation to child exploitation, offering added value solutions to the victim's care plans and clearly identifying disruption opportunities and the criminal justice responses. They are not care planning meetings and will not scrutinise individual care plans, the panels will instead consider activities that can be undertaken in addition to the victim's care plan to further enhance and safeguard them. The MACE panels will scrutinise the tasks and actions for each individual discussed and review the progress and effectiveness of allocated actions, holding to account the individuals and agencies responsible for completing the tasks.

The meeting will also facilitate:

• Partners understanding their role in the protection of children vulnerable to exploitation, the disruption of location activity and the prosecution and pursuing of perpetrators;
• Partner agencies bringing their own agency knowledge/legislation and guidance to utilise when identifying actions;
• Partner agencies contributing to all meetings, meaning the discussions are not wholly led by the police or social care services;
• All partners contributing to the completion of the child exploitation vulnerability tracker;
• Ensure that robust plans are in place that aim to manage and work to mitigate the level of risk;
• Increased consistency for decision making regarding the level of risk and vulnerability of child exploitation across Sheffield and that resources are identified and allocated in the most proportionate way;
• Ensure that Health, Police and Children and Young Peoples Service have the right risk status allocated to an individual child and that this is consistent across the partnership;
• Understand the level of risk posed to individual children and young people, what level of threat the risks present to the child's well-being and how well these can be managed so the level of risk is reduced and safely managed.

Examples of MACE actions:

• To ensure the completion of referrals to the NRM;
• To consider the legislation available by environmental health/licencing for example and how this allows for entry into takeaway establishments;
• To explore the ascertaining of additional orders e.g. sexual risk orders;
• To action Child Abduction Notices (CANs) being issued;
• To consider children who transition into adulthood and the additional support they require post 18;
• To explore the additional professional presence required within identified hotspot locations;
• Identify appropriate and relevant additional support from partner agencies.

It is important that prior to any case being referred to MACE that the Child Exploitation Screening Tool is completed.

See also: Appendix 1: Multi-Agency Child Exploitation MACE Meeting Guidance for Professionals with concerns about Contextual Safeguarding, County Lines and Child Sexual Exploitation.

6. Identifying and Prosecuting Perpetrators

The police and criminal justice agencies lead on the identification and prosecution of perpetrators. All practitioners, however, have a role in gathering, recording and sharing information with the police and other agencies, as appropriate and in agreement with them.

Staff and foster carers should bear in mind that sexual exploitation often does not occur in isolation and has links to other crime types, including:

• Child trafficking (into, out of and within the UK);
• Domestic Violence and Abuse;
• Sexual violence in intimate relationships;
• Grooming (both online and offline);
• Abusive images of children and their distribution (organised abuse);
• Organised sexual abuse of children;
• Drugs-related offences (dealing, consuming and cultivating);
• Gang-related activity;
• Immigration-related offences;
• Domestic servitude.

7. Supporting Children and Young People through Related Legal Proceedings

Where alleged perpetrators are arrested and charged with offences against children or young people, allocated staff and foster carers should ensure they are supported throughout the prosecution process and beyond. Specialist agencies should be involved in supporting the child or young person, as required. This may include using special measures to protect them when giving evidence in court for example. Independent Sexual Violence Advisers or specialist voluntary sector services, if available, may also have an important role to play.

8. Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme

The Child Sex Offender Review (CSOR) Disclosure Scheme is designed to provide members of the public with a formal mechanism to ask for disclosure about people they are concerned about, who have unsupervised access to children and may therefore pose a risk. This scheme builds on existing, well established third-party disclosures that operate under the Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA).

Police will reveal details confidentially to the person most able to protect the child (usually parents, carers or guardians) if they think it is in the child's interests.

The scheme has been operating in all 43 police areas in England and Wales since 2010. The scheme is managed by the Police and information can only be accessed through direct application to them.

If a disclosure is made, the information must be kept confidential and only used to keep the child in question safe. Legal action may be taken if confidentiality is breached. A disclosure is delivered in person (as opposed to in writing) with the following warning:

• 'That the information must only be used for the purpose for which it has been shared i.e. in order to safeguard children;
• The person to whom the disclosure is made will be asked to sign an undertaking that they agree that the information is confidential and they will not disclose this information further;
• A warning should be given that legal proceedings could result if this confidentiality is breached. This should be explained to the person and they must sign the undertaking' (Home Office, 2011, p16).

If the person is unwilling to sign the undertaking, the police must consider whether the disclosure should still take place.

9. Further Information

Further information regarding sexual exploitation can be found in the Sheffield Safeguarding Sexual Exploitation policy (see Sheffield Children Safeguarding Partnership Child Protection and Safeguarding Procedures, Child Sexual Exploitation Procedure).

Additional information includes:

• Trafficking and the National Referral Mechanism;
• The Grooming process;
• Risks Associated with Computers and Mobile phones;
• Evidence Gathering and information Sharing;
• Boys and young men;
• Looked After Children;
• Residential care;
• Role of the Police.

Appendix 1: Multi-Agency Child Exploitation MACE Meeting Guidance for Professionals with concerns about Contextual Safeguarding, County Lines and Child Sexual Exploitation

Click here to view Appendix 1: Multi-Agency Child Exploitation MACE Meeting Guidance for Professionals with concerns about Contextual Safeguarding, County Lines and Child Sexual Exploitation.