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Child Sexual Exploitation

- Foundation
Handbook
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Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) Foundation

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Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) Foundation
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 Contents

Learning Objectives................................................................................................................................. 2
Remember .............................................................................................................................................. 2
CSE and the Different Models ................................................................................................................. 2
What Is CSE? ....................................................................................................................................... 2
What Is Classified as CSE? ................................................................................................................... 3
Who Is Affected?................................................................................................................................. 3
The Key Signs and Indicators of Risk/Vulnerability for CSE .................................................................... 4
Who Is Vulnerable? ............................................................................................................................. 4
Additional Vulnerabilities.................................................................................................................... 4
The Signs of CSE .................................................................................................................................. 5
Trafficking, Grooming, and Child Sexual Exploitation in Gangs and Groups .......................................... 5
What Are the Dangers? ....................................................................................................................... 5
Why Do Young People Join Gangs?..................................................................................................... 6
Grooming ............................................................................................................................................ 6
The Grooming Line .............................................................................................................................. 6
The Signs to Look out For.................................................................................................................... 8
The Effects of Grooming ..................................................................................................................... 8
Trafficking ........................................................................................................................................... 9
Who Can Help? ................................................................................................................................... 9
The Long and Short-Term Impacts of Child Sexual Exploitation ............................................................. 9
How Are Children and Young People Affected? ................................................................................. 9
Long-Term Effects ............................................................................................................................. 10
How and Where to Find Help and Support for Children and Young People......................................... 10
Working Together to Safeguard Children 2018 ................................................................................ 10
What to Do after a Child Discloses.................................................................................................... 11
Who Can Support You? ..................................................................................................................... 11
How Do You Report Sexual Abuse? .................................................................................................. 12
Advice Lines for Children and Young People ........................................................................................ 12
Final Words ........................................................................................................................................... 12

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 Learning Objectives

• To gain an understanding of what child sexual exploitation (CSE) is and the different
models
• To identify the key signs and indicators of risk/vulnerability for CSE
• To understand trafficking, grooming, and CSE in gangs and groups
• To be aware of the long-term and short-term impacts of CSE
• To know how and where to get help and support for children and young people

Remember

• We have a duty to protect.

• CSE is never the victim’s fault, even if there is some form of exchange; all children
and young people under the age of 18 have a right to be safe and should be
protected from harm.

CSE and the Different Models

What Is CSE?

• The Department for Education describes CSE as follows.

• “Child sexual exploitation is a form of child sexual abuse. 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.”
• In the year ending March 2019, the police in England and Wales recorded 73,260
sexual offences where there are data to identify the victim was a child (Source: The
Office for National Statistics).

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 What Is Classified as CSE?

• The rape of a child under 13

• Sexual assault and assault by penetration
• Sexual activity with a child
• Arranging or commissioning of a child sex offence
• Sexual communication with a child
• Causing a child to watch a sexual act
• Paying for sexual services of a child
• Abuse of a position of trust: sexual activity with a child
• Trafficking within the UK for sexual exploitation
• Administering a substance with the intent to commit a sexual offence
• Controlling a child in relation to child sexual exploitation
• Meeting a child following sexual grooming

Who Is Affected?

• CSE 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.
• It can still be abuse even if the sexual activity appears consensual.
• This can include both contact (penetrative and non-penetrative acts) and non-
contact sexual activity.
• CSE may involve force and/or enticement-based methods of compliance, and may,
or may not, be accompanied by violence or threats of violence.
• It 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).
• It 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.
• CSE is generally defined by a form of power imbalance in favour of those
perpetrating the abuse. While age differences may be the most obvious factor, this
power imbalance can also be due to a range of other factors, including gender,

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 sexual identity, cognitive ability, physical strength, status, and access to economic or
other resources.
• It can take place in person, via technology, or a combination of both.

The Key Signs and Indicators of Risk/Vulnerability for CSE

Who Is Vulnerable?

• Any child, in any community, can be affected.

• Child sexual exploitation is occurring across the country but is often hidden, so
prevalence data is hard to ascertain.
• Children aged 12 to 15 years of age are most at risk of CSE, although victims as young
as 8 have been identified, particularly in relation to online concerns. Equally, those
aged 16 or above can also experience CSE, and it is important that such abuse is not
overlooked due to assumed capacity to consent.
• Though CSE may be most frequently observed amongst young females, boys are also
at risk.
• CSE affects all ethnic groups.

Additional Vulnerabilities

• Having a prior experience of neglect or abuse

• A lack of a safe/stable home environment, now or in the past
• A recent bereavement or loss
• Social isolation or social difficulties
• The absence of a safe environment to explore sexuality
• Economic vulnerability
• Homelessness or insecure accommodation status
• Connections with other children and young people who are being sexually exploited
• Family members or other connections involved in adult sex work
• Having a physical or learning disability

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 • Being in care (particularly those in residential care and those with interrupted care
histories)
• Confused sexual identity

The Signs of CSE

• Children and young people may exhibit the following signs.

o Being frightened of some people, places, or situations
o Unhealthy or inappropriate sexual behaviour
o Being secretive
o Sharp changes in mood or character
o Having money or things they can't or won't explain
o Physical signs of abuse, like bruises or bleeding in their genital or anal area
o Alcohol or drug misuse
o Sexually transmitted infections
o Pregnancy

Trafficking, Grooming, and Child Sexual Exploitation in Gangs and Groups

What Are the Dangers?

• When you see groups of young people on the street, this may not necessarily mean
anything dangerous is occurring. There are different types of groups, as follows:
o A peer group: A relatively small and transient social grouping which may or may not
describe themselves as a gang depending on the context
o A street gang: Groups of young people who see themselves (and are seen by others)
as a discernible group; crime and violence is integral to the group's identity
o Organised criminal gangs: group of individuals; involvement in crime is for personal
gain (financial or otherwise)
• Gangs use sexual exploitation:
o To exert power and control
o For initiation
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 o To use sexual violence as a weapon

Why Do Young People Join Gangs?

• There are many reasons as follows:

o Peer pressure and wanting to fit in
o To feel respected and important
o To be protected from other gangs or bullies
o To make money
o To gain status and feel powerful
o They’ve been excluded from school and don’t feel they have a future
o Pressure from gangs

Grooming

• Grooming is when someone builds a relationship, trust, and emotional connection

with a child or young person, so they can manipulate, exploit, and abuse them.
• Children and young people who are groomed can be sexually abused, exploited. or
trafficked.
• Anybody can be a groomer, no matter their age, gender, or race.
• Grooming can take place over a short or long period of time – from weeks to years.
• Groomers may also build a relationship with the young person's family or friends to
make them seem trustworthy or authoritative.

The Grooming Line

There are a few stages that occur to groom vulnerable children or young people. The stages
describe the actions of groomers.
The Targeting Stage
• Observing the child/young person
• Selecting the child/young person
• Befriending – Being nice, giving gifts, taking an interest, complimenting
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 • Gaining and developing trust
• Sharing information about young people between other abusers
The Friendship Forming Stage
• Making the young person feel special
• Giving gifts and rewards
• Spending time together
• Listening and remembering
• Keeping secrets
• Being there for them
• Being their best friend
• Claiming that no one understands them like they do
The Loving/Relationship Stage
• Being the young person’s “boyfriend” or “girlfriend”
• Establishing a sexual relationship
• Lowering the young person’s inhibitions, e.g. showing them porn
• Engaging them in forbidden activities, e.g. clubbing, drinking, drugs
• Being inconsistent – building up hopes and then punishing the young person
The Abusive Relationship Stage
• Creating an “unloving” sexual relationship
• Withdrawing love and friendship
• Reinforcing dependency by stating the young person is “damaged goods”
• Isolating the young person from friends and family
• Using trickery and manipulation, e.g. “you owe me”
• Threatening the young person
• Using physical violence or sexual assault
• Making the young person have sex with other people
• Giving the young person drugs
• Playing on the young person’s feelings of guilt, shame, and fear

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 The Signs to Look out For

• It is important to be observant as some of the signs may not be obvious. Especially

with teenagers, what may seem “usual teenage behaviour” may be a sign of
grooming.
o Being very secretive about how they're spending their time, including when online
o Having an older boyfriend or girlfriend
o Having money or new things like clothes and mobile phones that they can't or won't
explain
o Underage drinking or drug-taking
o Spending more or less time online or on their devices
o Being upset, withdrawn, or distressed
o Sexualised behaviour, language, or an understanding of sex that's not appropriate
for their age
o Spending more time away from home or going missing for periods of time

The Effects of Grooming

• Anxiety and depression

• Eating disorders
• Post-traumatic stress
• Difficulty coping with stress
• Self-harm
• Suicidal thoughts
• Sexually transmitted infections
• Pregnancy
• Feelings of shame and guilt
• Drug and alcohol problems
• Relationship problems with family, friends, and partners
Children and young people who've been trafficked might:
• Not understand what's happened to them is abuse - especially if they've been
groomed
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 • Believe they're in a relationship with their abuser and be unaware they're being
exploited
• Think they played a part in their abuse or have broken the law
• Feel very guilty or ashamed about the abuse they've suffered
Children trafficked for sexual exploitation are at high risk of prolonged periods of sexual
violence, physical injuries, sexually transmitted infections and, for girls, multiple
pregnancies.

Trafficking

• Trafficking is where children and young people are tricked, forced, or persuaded to
leave their homes and are moved or transported and then exploited, forced to work,
or sold.
• Internal Trafficking: This does not cross-national borders and ranges from inter-city
transportation to movement within individual neighbourhoods.
• International Trafficking: This does cross national borders, often perpetrated by large
organised crime organisations who have extensive networks in the country of origin
and destination country.

Who Can Help?

• Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP)

• The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC)

The Long and Short-Term Impacts of Child Sexual Exploitation

How Are Children and Young People Affected?

• Once a child is entrapped in a cycle of sexual exploitation, it can be difficult to

understand why they return to their abusers. The best way to explain this is due to
the control and manipulation the child is under.
• Repeated sexual abuse will result in the fear of being blamed or not being believed, a
lack of self-esteem and worthlessness, but also misplaced loyalties towards the
perpetrators.

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 • For many children, the abuse equates to their first experience of sex and love, of
which they have no prior experience to measure it against. It is also important to
remember that sexually exploited children are often explicitly threatened with
violence if they disclose the abuse.
• It is common for their family to be threatened, so the child may feel they are
protecting their family by enduring the abuse.

Long-Term Effects

Children May
• Struggle with trust and be fearful of forming new relationships
• Become isolated from family and friends
• Fail exams or drop out of education
• Become pregnant at a young age
• Experience unemployment
• Have mental health problems
• Make suicide attempts
• Substance abuse
• Take part in criminal behaviour
• Experience homelessness

How and Where to Find Help and Support for Children and Young People

Working Together to Safeguard Children 2018

• The guide, Working Together to Safeguard Children 2018 sets out requirements for
improving partnerships to protect children. A child is defined as anyone who has not
yet reached their 18th birthday. Children, therefore, means children and young
people throughout.
• Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is defined as:
o Protecting children from maltreatment
o Preventing impairment of children's health or development

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 o Ensuring that children grow up in the circumstances consistent with the provision of
safe and effective care
o Taking action to enable all children to have the best outcome
• We have a duty to detect, prevent, and respond to abuse. Please
make sure you know to whom and how to report in your organisation.

What to Do after a Child Discloses

• If a child talks to you about sexual exploitation, it's important to:

o Not panic and stay calm
o Listen carefully to what they're saying
o Let them know they've done the right thing by telling you
o Tell them it's not their fault
o Say you'll take them seriously
o Explain what you'll do next
o Report what the child has told you as soon as possible
Do Not
• Make promises you can not keep.
• Investigate or ask direct questions.
• Confront the alleged abuser.
• TED Questions
• TED questions are a good way to facilitate the conversation with a child. They follow
this general pattern.
• Tell Me – Tell me what happened.
• Explain – Explain to me what happened next.
• Describe – Describe what you saw/did/happened.

Who Can Support You?

• It can be daunting to manage disclosures on your own. Seek advice and support if
possible, from other carers, professionals, or organisations.

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 • Draw a diagram using the professional support network available to you.
• Extend it by adding what support networks available to them.
• Include their contact details.
• Keep this in an accessible but safe place.

How Do You Report Sexual Abuse?

• Call 999 if the child is at immediate risk or call 101 if you think a crime has been
committed.
• You can also call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online.
• The NSPCC has a whistleblowing advice line if you have concerns over how child
protection issues are being handled in your own or another organisation. You can
talk to the NSPCC anonymously on 0800 028 0285 or email help@nspcc.org.uk.

Advice Lines for Children and Young People

• Here are some links and numbers you can share with young people.
• Children and young people can contact:
o Fearless to report crime anonymously
o Gangsline for free advice and support from ex-gang members
o Victim Support if they've experienced crime
• Childline can be contacted 24/7. Calls to 0800 1111 are free and confidential.
Children can also contact Childline online.

Final Words

• CSE is never the victim’s fault, even if there is some form of exchange; all children
and young people under the age of 18 have a right to be safe and should be
protected from harm.
• PACE works with parents and carers of children who are, or at risk of, being sexually
exploited. You can call them for confidential help and advice on 0113 240 5226 or fill
in their online form.

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 Web: www.thetraininghub.co.uk
Email: info@thetraininghub.co.uk
Support: onlinehelpdesk@thetraininghub.co.uk

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