Child Exploitation
Child Exploitation is a type of abuse. When a child or young person is exploited they’re groomed by being given things, like gifts, drugs, money, status and affection. This is usually in exchange for carrying out a criminal activity, known as Child Criminal Exploitation or performing sexual activities, known as Child Sexual Exploitation.
Children can be taken to places in and outside of North Yorkshire, known as Trafficking to be exploited. They can be moved around different places in the country and abused by being forced to take part in criminal or sexual activities. Young people in gangs can also be exploited.
Sometimes abusers use violence and intimidation to frighten or force a child or young person, making them feel as they’ve no choice. They may give large sums of money or items, such as drugs, they can’t be repaid in order to control a young person.
The Ivison Trust – previously Parents Against Child Exploitation (PACE), have worked in partnership with parents who have been affected by child exploitation to challenge the stigma associated with child exploitation. Featuring the voices of affected parents, our film tells the story of what it feels like for parents to live with the stigma and how everyone can play a role in supporting families with compassion and courage, instead of blame and shame.
Child Exploitation – Would you know the signs?
Parents are often the first to notice that their child is being exploited. It is so important to act quickly and intervene early if you suspect your child is being exploited.
Listen to some parents whose children have been exploited talk about the changes they noticed in their child.
Criminal Exploitation
Criminal exploitation of children and young people is an issue nationally and it is happening in North Yorkshire too.
Criminal exploitation takes many forms, the most common relating to the supply and movement of drugs (often referred to as “County Lines”), offences in relation to guns and other weapons, money laundering, violent offences and in some cases “cuckooing” where criminals forcibly take over control of a person’s home.
Harrogate Safer Communities, alongside NYC Ripon & Rural Children and Families Service produced the below video to show how criminal exploitation can happen in North Yorkshire:
– Returning home late, staying out all night or going missing
– Being found in areas away from home
– Increasing drug use, or being found to have large amounts of drugs on them
– Being secretive about who they are talking to and where they are going
– Unexplained absences from school, college, training or work
– Unexplained money, phone(s), clothes or jewellery
– Increasingly disruptive or aggressive behaviour
– Using sexual, drug-related or violent language you wouldn’t expect them to know
– Coming home with injuries or looking particularly dishevelled
– Having hotel cards or keys to unknown places
Hand in Hand Project
The Children’s Society Hand in Hand Project is running in North Yorkshire for young people who are experiencing or are at risk of criminal and/or sexual exploitation.
Dedicated specialist workers provide direct support to enable young people to recognise themselves as victims, increase resilience and make informed choices to lower the risk and/or stop the risk of exploitation increasing.
For more information about the Hand in Hand Project click onto their website here. To make a referral click the link below: 
———————————————————————————————————————
Trusted Relationships Project
The North Yorkshire and York Trusted Relationships Project is one way in which young people aged 10-17 who are at risk of criminal exploitation are accessing support.
Through the project, young people are assigned to at trained worker to build a trusting relationship with over a long period time and develop skills to protect them from exploitation.
Currently, young people are referred to the project by North Yorkshire Children & Families Service.
For more information about the Trusted Relationship Project see the One Minute Guide at the bottom of this page.
Ivison Trust helps parents across the UK, including in North Yorkshire, understand what is happening to their child and how parents are the people who are best to help their child exit exploitative relationships.
Parent Liaison Officers (PLO’s) offer direct one to one work with parents affected by exploitation. The PLO includes parents as partners whilst recognising their needs as a parent of an exploited child. The PLO will formulate co-created safeguarding plans that address the extra familial risk alongside partner agencies and support parents to gather information and intelligence to help partners target and disrupt the offenders and locations. Throughout service delivery the PLO supports the recovery and safety of the child and family.
Below is one parents experience of receiving support from Ivison Trust:
“Regaining my power”
When my child was being used and abused by a gang linked to organised crime, it took over my family. I was trying to keep my child safe and get help from services. Whilst there were a lot of agencies involved, their whole focus was on my child and there was little support for me. It felt as if the agencies were at a loss as to what to say to me and at times were quite blaming of me. I felt very alone managing a really tough situation. I started to feel so lost, worn down and as if I no longer had any choices. I started to shut down, close off, give up because I felt so down.
I dread to think what might have happened to us if my guardian angel – the parent liaison officer – hadn’t arrived when she did. Her first words to me were, ‘I’m here for you. This isn’t your fault.’ It was life changing to have someone there for me and to start feeling as if there was a way out. I felt this relief, as if a physical weight had been lifted from my shoulders. It gave me a drive again, to have hope and to get back up and keep pushing.
The parent liaison officer (PLO) helped me in loads of ways. She pointed out what I had been doing to keep my child safe and how I’d been trying to work with all the agencies involved. She challenged some of negative attitudes towards me and helped my voice to be heard in meetings. I’d been sharing lots of information and intelligence with the police and it felt very risky to do this because I was terrified that the gang would find out and that there’d be retaliation attacks and risks to our lives. My PLO worked with services to make sure that there were plans in place about how information would be acted upon. My PLO helped me to move areas, which helped my child to find a way out and heal. I, like most parents, needed support in order to support my child. We all need someone on our side.
For more information on Ivison Trust visit their website here.
If you think you or a young person you know could be in danger call the police on 999, or if you have non-urgent information to share with the police, call 101 or contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or online.
If you are worried about a child’s safety, click onto the do you need some help section to find out which services can help.
The Children’s Society has lots of further information about criminal exploitation and how they are supporting young people who have experienced or are at risk of experiencing this type of exploitation, find out more below by watching the video and clicking on The Children’s Society image:
Sexual Exploitation
Child Sexual Exploitation, often known as CSE can happen in person or online. An abuser will gain a child’s trust or control them through violence or blackmail before moving onto sexually abusing them. This can happen in a short period of time.
When a child is sexually exploited online they might be persuaded or forced to:
- send or post sexually explicit images of themselves
- film or stream sexual activities
- have sexual conversations
– Unhealthy or inappropriate sexual behaviour
– Being frightened of some people, places or situations
– Being secretive
– Sharp changes in mood or character
– Having money or things they can’t or won’t explain
– Physical signs of abuse, like bruises or bleeding in their genital or anal area
– Alcohol or drug misuse
– Sexually transmitted infections
– Pregnancy
The Children’s Society Hand in Hand Project is running in North Yorkshire for young people who are experiencing or are at risk of sexual and/or criminal exploitation.
Dedicated specialist workers provide direct support to enable young people to recognise themselves as victims, increase resilience and make informed choices to lower the risk and/or stop the risk of exploitation increasing.
For more information about the Hand in Hand Project click onto their website here.
Ivison Trust – previously Parents Against Child Exploitation (PACE), helps parents and carers across the UK, including in North Yorkshire, understand what is happening to their child and how parents are the people who are best to help their child exit exploitative relationships. Parent Liaison Officers (PLO’s) offer direct one to one work with parents affected by exploitation. The PLO includes parents as partners whilst recognising their needs as a parent of an exploited child. The PLO will formulate co-created safeguarding plans that address the extra familial risk alongside partner agencies and support parents to gather information and intelligence to help partners target and disrupt the offenders and locations. Throughout service delivery the PLO supports the recovery and safety of the child and family.
Below is one parents experience of receiving support from Ivison Trust:
“Regaining my power”
When my child was being used and abused by a gang linked to organised crime, it took over my family. I was trying to keep my child safe and get help from services. Whilst there were a lot of agencies involved, their whole focus was on my child and there was little support for me. It felt as if the agencies were at a loss as to what to say to me and at times were quite blaming of me. I felt very alone managing a really tough situation. I started to feel so lost, worn down and as if I no longer had any choices. I started to shut down, close off, give up because I felt so down.
I dread to think what might have happened to us if my guardian angel – the parent liaison officer – hadn’t arrived when she did. Her first words to me were, ‘I’m here for you. This isn’t your fault.’ It was life changing to have someone there for me and to start feeling as if there was a way out. I felt this relief, as if a physical weight had been lifted from my shoulders. It gave me a drive again, to have hope and to get back up and keep pushing.
The parent liaison officer (PLO) helped me in loads of ways. She pointed out what I had been doing to keep my child safe and how I’d been trying to work with all the agencies involved. She challenged some of negative attitudes towards me and helped my voice to be heard in meetings. I’d been sharing lots of information and intelligence with the police and it felt very risky to do this because I was terrified that the gang would find out and that there’d be retaliation attacks and risks to our lives. My PLO worked with services to make sure that there were plans in place about how information would be acted upon. My PLO helped me to move areas, which helped my child to find a way out and heal. I, like most parents, needed support in order to support my child. We all need someone on our side.
To download a referral form, please follow this link.
For more information on Ivison Trust visit their website here.
If you think you or a young person you know could be in danger call the police on 999, or if you have non-urgent information to share with the police, call 101 or contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or online.
If you are worried about a child’s safety, click onto the do you need some help section to find out which services can help.
NSPCC & Think U Know has lots of further information and resources about what to do if you suspect you or a friend is experiencing sexual exploitation, find out more by clicking on the below images:
Trafficking & Modern Slavery
Child trafficking and modern slavery are child abuse. Many children and young people are trafficked into the UK from other countries, but children are also trafficked around the UK, including North Yorkshire.
It can be difficult to know what to do if you’re worried about somebody who is being trafficked.
Trafficking is where children and young people are tricked, forced or persuaded to be moved or transported and then exploited, forced to work or sold. Children are trafficked for:
– sexual and criminal exploitation
– benefit fraud
– forced marriage
– domestic slavery like cleaning, cooking and childcare
– forced labour in factories or agriculture
– committing crimes, like theft, working on cannabis farms or moving drugs
Trafficked children experience many types of abuse and neglect. Traffickers use physical, sexual and emotional abuse as a form of control. Children and young people are also likely to be physically and emotionally neglected and may be sexually and/or criminally exploited.
It may not be obvious that a child has been trafficked but you might notice unusual or unexpected things, such as:
– spend a lot of time doing household chores
– rarely leave their house or have no time for playing
– be orphaned or living apart from their family
– live in low-standard accommodation
– be unsure which country, city or town they’re in
– can’t or are reluctant to share personal information or where they live
– not be registered with a school or a GP practice
– have no access to their parents or guardians
– be seen in inappropriate places like brothels or factories
– have money or things you wouldn’t expect them to
– have injuries from workplace accidents
– give a prepared story which is very similar to stories given by other children
Children who are trafficked are intentionally hidden and isolated from the services and communities who can identify and protect them. If you’re worried about somebody, you can take steps to keep them safe:
– If you think a child or young person is in danger, contact the police on 999
– Click onto the do you need some help section to find out which other services can help
– Contact the Modern Slavery Helpline to get help, report a suspicion or seek advice. Call 0800 012 1700 or fill in their online form.
NSPCC has lots of further information about what to do if you suspect somebody is being trafficked, find out more below:
You may also be interested in:
View all our Resources
View all our news