National Child Exploitation Awareness Day – 18th March 2024 – is a campaign that aims to raise awareness of child exploitation and to encourage everyone to think, spot and speak out against this form of abuse.
In past years, National Child Exploitation Awareness Raising Days have seen hundreds of events take place across the country, including poster and leaflet displays and local authorities running targeted campaigns across public services and in shopping centres.
Child exploitation is a term which covers all the ways in which children and young people can be exploited. It takes many forms including human trafficking, forced labour, sexual exploitation and criminal exploitation.
What are the three stages of child exploitation?
The three stages of child exploitation are:
- Recruitment/grooming
- Control establishing the dominance of the perpetrator over the victim.
- Exploitation
Young people aged 12-15 years of age are most at risk of child sexual exploitation although victims as young as eight years old have been identified particularly in relation to online abuse.
Child exploitation is a complex problem which affects not only the young person or child but their families and often the communities around them. Those exploiting young people are often well organised and able to cover their tracks effectively. It is up to all of us to spot the signs that a young person may be being exploited for gain and to seek the advice and support to stop it.
Signs to look out for
You may think that it could not happen to your child but every child is at risk. Some of the signs to look out for are:
- Skipping school
- Staying out late or overnight
- Unexplained gifts/new possessions
- Having more than one mobile phone
- Drugs and alcohol misuse
- Secretive behaviour
- Inappropriate or sexualised behaviour
- Friendship or relationships with older adults
It is important that as adults and parents we educate ourselves to spot these signs and to be able to differentiate what may be signs of normal teenage, rebellious behaviour and what may have a deeper, more sinister cause.
Fortunately, there are many organisations who are working hard to raise awareness of child exploitation, to support these young people and their families to find a way out of these abusive situations and to help them to heal.
How can we help?
Dianne Collins is a Senior Associate in our expert Personal Injury team, which has been ranked in Tier One by the independently researched publication, The Legal 500, and Commended in The Times Best Law Firms 2024. Dianne specialises in accident claims, including child abuse claims, criminal injury compensation claims and public liability claims.
For more information on the subject above, please contact Dianne or another member of the team in Derby, Leicester or Nottingham on 0800 024 1976 or via our online enquiry form.