Event Details

Key Speakers

	Zoe Hilton, Head of Safeguarding and Child Protection, Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre
	Jenny Pearce, Chair, National Working Group for Sexually Exploited Children and Young People
	Carlene Firmin, Principal Policy Adviser (Child sexual exploitation, victimisation and abuse), Office of the Children’s Commissioner for England

Overview

Sexual exploitation is a particularly disturbing form of child abuse, targeting vulnerable boys and girls, both older and younger, from stable and affluent homes as well as from less advantaged backgrounds, in urban and rural communities. Urging action at a national and local level to tackle this largely hidden phenomenon, recent reports by Barnardo's and the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) indicate that child sexual exploitation is far more widespread than previously imagined, whilst victims are becoming younger and grooming more sophisticated.

Prioritising the eradication of such abuse, the Government’s new ‘Tackling Child Sexual Exploitation Action Plan’ (November 2011) seeks to raise awareness and understanding of child sexual exploitation amongst front-line practitioners and parents to ensure that the early warning signs of grooming or coercion are recognised and acted upon immediately. As well as seeking to ensure that vulnerable children particularly at risk of exploitation are properly safeguarded, the action plan also advocates that children be taught about healthy relationships and how to stay safe both online and in their community.

Following concerns that many local areas are not identifying child sexual exploitation, the action plan stresses that Local Safeguarding Children Boards (LSCBs) must act to establish the severity of the problem in their areas and take steps urgently to tackle it effectively, with strong preventative strategies and universal provision of services for young victims of sexual exploitation.

Pledging justice and support for victims and their families, the Government has also underlined the urgent need to improve police, prosecution and court practice, particularly in supporting victims to act as witnesses, in order to secure sound prosecutions against individuals, groups and gangs.

This timely symposium provides an invaluable opportunity for front line practitioners from the police, social services, health, education and third sector, to examine the key themes of the Government’s new action plan: raising awareness and understanding; effective prevention and detection; securing robust prosecutions; and improving support for victims and their families. Delegates will consider how these new measures can contribute to the fight against child sexual exploitation in every local area.

Delegates will:

• Analyse the Government’s Action Plan and determine the next steps to tackle child sexual exploitation nationally and locally
• Explore how to raise awareness and understanding amongst practitioners, parents and children to improve prevention and early detection
• Discuss how to deliver a child-centred system, with improved services for victims and support throughout the CJS
• Consider how to better help victims and their families to recover
• Share vital best practice in monitoring, tackling and preventing child sexual exploitation

Programme

Who Should Attend?

• Directors of Children's Services
• Children's Services and Families Services Officers
• Social Workers and Social Services Officers
• Local Safeguarding Children Boards
• Looked-After Children Teams
• Child Protection Teams
• Missing Persons Units
• Children's Trusts and Children's Centres
• Children's Health Service Professionals
• Child and Adolescent Mental Health Practitioners
• Drug and Alcohol Action Teams
• Teenage Pregnancy and Sexual Health Co-ordinators
• Teachers and Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators
• Local Education Authorities
• Education Providers
• Children's Services and Families Services Officers
• Children and Youth Services
• Social Workers and Social Services Officers
• Children's Health Service Professionals
• Parental Engagement Practitioners
• Training Organisations
• E-Crime Experts
• Police Child Protection Officers
• Social Networking Providers
• Behaviour and Attendance Teams
• Criminal Justice Practitioners
• Homeless Organisations
• Community Development Managers
• Housing Officers and Associations
• Social Exclusion and Neighbourhood Renewal Teams
• Youth Workers and Youth Offending Teams
• Community Safety Teams
• Community Support Officers
• Police Service
• Domestic Violence Coordinators
• Training Organisations
• Legal Professionals
• DfE, DoH, UKBA, FCO, SOCA, Home Office, CPS and other Central Government Departments and Agencies
• Local Authority Officers and Councillors
• Third Sector Practitioners
• Faith Organisations
• Fire Service
• Academics and Researchers

“ This country has to wake up to the fact that children are being sexually abused in far greater numbers than was ever imagined. It could be going on in every type of community and in every part of the country. Too many local areas have failed to uncover the true extent of child sexual exploitation in their communities and failed to properly support victims and their families. Child sexual exploitation is child abuse, it is not good enough that some local areas don't recognise it as an issue. This is an extremely serious crime and must be treated as such, with the perpetrators pursued more vigorously. We need to make going to court much easier for the young victims and their families. It is worrying that many incidents go unreported because victims are unwilling to come forward. We can only succeed if we address every aspect of the problem. The action plan is a big step forward...”
— Children’s Minister, November 2011