Child grooming: “There is still much to do” says new CEO of Barnardo’s

[Alison J Stevens]

Press releases

Child grooming: “There is still much to do” says new CEO of Barnardo’s

Release Date: 17/01/2011

Child sexual exploitation is a child protection issue and the secretary of state for education should appoint a minister to take forward a national action plan without delay, says Anne Marie Carrie the new chief executive of Barnardo’s.

The chief executive of the UK’s largest children’s charity has used her first day in office to call for urgent action to protect the thousands of young girls and boys who are being preyed upon and then abused, raped and exploited for sex. The charity, which has been supporting these children for 16 years and runs 22 specialist services across the UK, worked with more than 1,000 sexually exploited girls and boys last year. Yet the real tragedy is that this number is likely to be the tip of the iceberg.

Although Barnardo’s welcomes CEOP’s investigation into child sexual exploitation, it believes that without a minister with overall responsibility the Government response is likely to remain inadequate.

Anne Marie Carrie said:

I have a lifetime of experience working in children’s services, but there is nothing more shocking than child sexual exploitation. These vulnerable defenceless girls and boys, who crave love and attention, are groomed then abused in the most callous and calculated way, leaving them deeply traumatised and scarred for life.

Although I thoroughly welcome the recent attention around the issue, the children at the heart of this crime have been forgotten as discussion has focused on the ethnicity of perpetrators in high profile cases.

Barnardo’s knows that sexual exploitation is going on in every town and city in the UK and child victims continue to go unidentified as tell-tale signs are overlooked due to a lack of awareness that stretches from front line children’s services to the corridors of Whitehall.

In a campaign calling for these children to be given the same protection afforded to babies and younger children, Barnardo’s launches a report Puppet on a String today which points to some worrying new trends identified by its 22 specialist services.

Trends identified by Barnardo’s specialist services:

• Trafficking is becoming more common and sexual exploitation more organised. Twenty one of its 22 services worked with children moved between towns and cities across the UK
• Grooming is becoming more sophisticated.  The internet and mobile phone technology are increasingly being used by abusers to target and exploit children
• Younger children are increasingly at risk. The average age of service users has fallen from 15 to 13, with some of our services now working with children as young as 10.

As part of its Cut them free campaign Barnardo’s is asking for the secretary of state for education to appoint a minister to bring forward an action plan which will:

• Improve early identification of child sexual exploitation – by ensuring that all professionals are aware of the tell-tale signs related to sexual exploitation
• Improve statutory responses and the provision of services for exploited children – by ensuring that universal services can respond to victims of sexual exploitation and that there are clearly determined pathways from universal to specialist services
• Improve the evidence and data on the numbers of exploited children
• Improve prosecution procedures to increase the number of cases leading to a conviction, particularly in supporting child victims to act as witnesses

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