Hello and welcome to the CSCP Exploitation Newsletter which provides a series of highly relevant and very timely updates. This is an important issue for children and their families, so please take a few minutes to take a look.
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Tuesday 18 March is National Child Exploitation Awareness Day. Child Exploitation is a form of child abuse that involves children and young people being targeted by adults or peers; any child can be at risk of Child Exploitation. The day aims to encourage everyone to think, spot and speak out against abuse, and be alert to the issues.
There are many forms of exploitation including criminal and sexual harm. Signs to look out for include:
- Children missing from home or education.
- Going to new places with no obvious connections.
- Spending more time online and have distanced themselves from family, friends and usual activities.
- Unexplained bruises, cuts, burns, marks and a reluctance to seek medical attention.
- Increase in alcohol, drug use, self-harm.
- Unexplained items such as new clothing, money, phones or drugs.
- Sudden changes in who they are spending time with.
- Unusually secretive, fearful, withdrawn or aggressive behaviour.
- Changes in clothing personal hygiene and vocabulary
- Being very protective of their mobile phone or having multiple phones or SIM cards.
The Safeguarding Children's Partnership has created an online Child Exploitation training package for businesses and communities. The training aims to encourage individuals to spot the signs of exploitation and know how to report concerns.
The Coventry's Safeguarding Children's Partnership will be supporting the day in two ways:
We are encouraging you to read the resources and circulate them amongst your services.
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Coventry Safeguarding Children’s Partnership has produced, ‘Child Sexual Exploitation - A guide for working with young people deemed to be low risk’. This guidance includes:
- Risk definitions.
- How to access and complete a screening tool.
- Building a trusted relationship.
- How to start a difficult conversation.
- Information and intelligence sharing.
- Support Services available.
Please access and use the document and look out for our briefings on this document coming soon.
Exploitation and serious youth violence are one of the Partnerships priorities. As a result of this, a variety of work has been undertaken, developed and delivered to enhance knowledge and understanding around child exploitation and how Coventry are tackling this national issue.
Coventry Safeguarding Children’s Partnership have worked alongside Horizon to develop localised awareness training and e-learning to support multi-agency practitioners across the city. See below for training details:
Exploitation Awareness E-Learning for Businesses and Communities: Our free e-learning is available for anyone working or living in Coventry that are looking to improve their knowledge around exploitation and how to seek help and support. The e-learning will take approximately 40 minutes to complete and you will receive a certificate upon successful completion. Access the e-learning.
Understanding Exploitation: This 2 hour virtual training session is available to practitioners and professionals in Coventry. The session is delivered by staff members from Horizon who will provide you with a more comprehensive look at child exploitation, pathways and making appropriate referrals.
Child Sexual Exploitation Training: This face to face training session is for professionals that already have a good understanding of exploitation and are likely to be presented with concerns in their role. The session is co-delivered by West Midlands Police, Horizon and Children’s Services. Please note that availability is administered on a first come, first serve basis.
To find out more about any of the training and availability please email cscptraining@coventry.gov.uk
It's important to use appropriate language when writing case notes or discussing exploited children to ensure the language used doesn’t blame children for their own abuse. If case notes use victim blaming language the child may not receive the appropriate safeguarding response, the language used to record in a child’s file may be used against them in court and if a child accesses their case records later in life it’s important that the file reflects accurately what they experienced as a child.
Victim blaming language reinforces messages from perpetrators around shame, guilt and responsibility and can lead to children not sharing their abuse with professionals through fear of being blamed or judged.
Examples of victim blaming language include:
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Putting themselves in risky situations
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Sexual activity with/sexually active
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‘Consensual sex’ when the child is aged under 13
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Choosing the gang lifestyle
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Messaging adults on social media
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Older boyfriend/girlfriend
Language such as this does not reflect the position of a child who cannot refuse or make a free choice due to the threats and intimidation that occurs in child exploitation.
Barnardos are running a series of free, virtual awareness raising sessions throughout week of 18 March which is Child Exploitation Awareness Day.
Our sessions include Introduction to ICTG Service, Signs and Indicators of Child Exploitation and Trafficking, NRM overview, NRM best practice session and a session specifically for Youth Justice practitioners.
You can find out more info and book on via our website.
Please do share with any colleagues who may be interested.
If you are planning your own programme of events for that week, feel free to add these sessions and the booking links to it.
Website: www.coventry.gov.uk/cscp
X: @covCSCPandCSAB
Facebook: Coventry Safeguarding Board and Partnership
Instagram: Coventry_lscb
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