Home AffairsWritten evidence from Safe and Sound Derby [LCG 19]

Introduction

1. Safe and Sound Derby is a voluntary organisation that has been working to end child sexual exploitation since 2002. We support children and young people in Derby who are being, or at risk of being sexually exploited, together with their families, and through our training arm, Just Whistle, deliver a UK-wide programme of training services to improve awareness, knowledge and skills to support victims and their families.

2. We welcome the opportunity to provide a submission to the Home Affairs Committee inquiry into the localised grooming of children for the purpose of sexual exploitation. It is important to note that Safe and Sound Derby works with victims of all forms of child sexual exploitation, and with those children and young people identified as being at risk of this form of abuse. We utilise the definition found in Safeguarding Children and Young People from Sexual Exploitation (HM Government, 2009), which came out of work done by the National Working Group for Sexually Exploited Children and Young People:

“Sexual exploitation of children and young people under 18 involves exploitative situations, contexts and relationships where young people (or a third person or persons) receive “something” (eg food, accommodation, drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, affection, gifts, money) as a result of them performing, and/or another or others performing on them, sexual activities. Child sexual exploitation can occur through the use of technology without the child’s immediate recognition; for example being persuaded to post sexual images on the Internet/mobile phones without immediate payment or gain. In all cases, those exploiting the child/young person have power over them by virtue of their age, gender, intellect, physical strength and/or economic or other resources. Violence, coercion and intimidation are common, involvement in exploitative relationships being characterised in the main by the child or young person’s limited availability of choice resulting from their social/economic and/or emotional vulnerability.”1

Our submission focuses on the following issues from our own organisational perspective working in Derby City:

The support provided to victims and witnesses by a range of agencies such as the Crown Prosecution Service, Police and voluntary agencies.

Whether front-line agencies are adequately equipped to identify victims and intervene at an early stage.

The extent to which Local Safeguarding Children Boards (LSCBs) have implemented key aspects of national guidance on child sexual exploitation, including the quality of partnership working between LSCBs, care services and police within and between local authority areas.

The quality of data collection, data sharing and research on child victims of localised grooming.

The support provided to victims and witnesses by a range of agencies such as the Crown Prosecution Service, Police and voluntary agencies

Safe and Sound Derby is a voluntary agency providing specialist support to children and young people aged under 18-years identified as being, or at risk of being, sexually exploited. Safe and Sound Derby is cited in the local Children Abused through Sexual Exploitation Procedures (Derby Safeguarding Children Board, 2012). Referrals to our service are received from a wide range of individuals, including social workers, family support workers, school nurses, teachers, police officers and education welfare officers, as well as self-referrals.

Once a referral has been accepted, the young person will be allocated a keyworker who will provide one-to-one support, usually one session per week. Support is voluntary (young people choose to access our services) and tailored to meet each individual young person’s needs, but will cover grooming and coercion, healthy relationships, safe choices and consent, as well as on building confidence, self-esteem and resilience. Each young person’s level of risk of child sexual exploitation is regularly assessed.

Young people can also access support from our Home Office funded Independent Sexual Violence Adviser (ISVA). The Home Office describes ISVA as “victim-focused advocates who are funded to work with victims of serious sexual crimes to enable them to access the services they need in the aftermath of the abuse they have experienced and to support them throughout the criminal justice process as necessary.”2

Safe and Sound Derby’s ISVA supported young victims involved in Operation Retriever, a large scale child abuse investigation led by Derbyshire Constabulary, and those involved in a more recent police investigation into child sexual exploitation, Operation Kern. Support was provided before, during and after the court cases.

At any one time, Safe and Sound Derby is working with a caseload of around 60 children and young people, male and female. In 201112, we supported a total of 116 children and young people living in Derby. It is important to note that not all of these young people are victims of child sexual exploitation; they have been identified as being, or at risk of being, sexually exploited.

Since June 2010, Safe and Sound Derby has also offered specialist support for the parents and/or primary carers of children who are being, or at significant risk of being, sexually exploited to help them to safeguard their child. In 201112 we supported 28 parents/carers.

Children who are being groomed for sexual exploitation often distance themselves from their family, “Grooming means the abuser establishes himself in the mind of the victim as the victim’s only real friend and protector.”3 Parents often do not understand why their child has changed; they feel powerless, isolated, and ashamed. This can lead to issues such as relationship breakdown, unemployment and depression.

Parents and carers are therefore given support to enable them to understand what is happening, to help them protect their child and support the rest of their family, and to deal with other agencies who are likely to be involved with their case, such as the police and children’s social care. Regular peer support groups enable parents to share knowledge and experiences, as well as giving them an opportunity to meet with individuals from relevant agencies, such as the police and children’s social care, learning about what their role is and how they might be involved in a case.

The support offered to parents and carers enhances the support offered to children and young people by Safe and Sound Derby; children will have a more supportive family, better able to protect them and help then to break the cycle of abuse.

Whether front-line agencies are adequately equipped to identify victims and intervene at an early stage

In 2010, nine men were convicted for a range of sexual and other offences involving 26 girls and young women, as a result of Derbyshire Constabulary’s largest ever child abuse investigation, Operation Retriever. Safe and Sound Derby was described as being “pivotal … in identifying the nature and scale of the abuse”.4

In February 2012, Derby & Derbyshire Safeguarding Children Boards published an amendment to the Children Abused through Sexual Exploitation Procedures and Derby Safeguarding Children Board published the Children Abused through Sexual Exploitation Risk Assessment Toolkit. The Toolkit enables professionals to assess a child or young person’s level of risk of child sexual exploitation and take appropriate action. Both documents are available at http://www.derbyscb.org.uk/scb7.html

Safe and Sound Derby delivers introductory training to frontline professionals working in Derby City. In 201112 1,124 professionals working with children, young people and families and/or in public protection in Derby took part in our training programmes. Delivered with support from the DSCB, the aims of the training are:

1.To provide an introduction and overview of the key issues regarding child sexual exploitation.

2.To assist practitioners to support children affected by child sexual exploitation.

A higher level Safeguarding Children and Young People—Sexual Exploitation training course is also offered through Derby Safeguarding Children Board, facilitated by the Child Protection Manager with responsibility for child sexual exploitation.

At a national level, through our training arm, Just Whistle, Safe and Sound Derby is working to raise awareness of child sexual exploitation. In 201112, 1,988 individuals from across the UK attended Just Whistle training and educational events.

The extent to which Local Safeguarding Children Boards (LSCBs) have implemented key aspects of national guidance on child sexual exploitation, including the quality of partnership working between LSCBs, care services and police within and between local authority areas

At a local level, Derby City has a proactive response to child sexual exploitation:

Derby Safeguarding Children Board (DSCB) has a Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) subgroup of which Safe and Sound Derby is part, “has a lead role in ensuring that multi agency arrangements coordinate the early identification of the risks of CSE and ensure that action is taken where children are experiencing abuse. This involves promoting the early identification of children and young people who may be at risk of exploitative situations”.5 The subgroup has developed a strategy, which embeds three key elements in tackling child sexual exploitation: Prevention, Protection and Prosecution.

In addition to the services offered by Safe and Sound Derby, work in the city is co-ordinated by a Child Protection Manager with responsibility for child sexual exploitation, whilst Derbyshire Constabulary’s Public Protection Unit has a dedicated Child Exploitation Investigation Unit (CEIU).

A network of Child Sexual Exploitation Champions has been set up to offer initial support for their respective agencies/teams across Derby.

The quality of data collection, data sharing and research on child victims of localised grooming

Utilising the Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) Information Report Form, Safe and Sound Derby and other organisations share information with Derbyshire Constabulary and the city’s Child Protection Manager responsible for child sexual exploitation. This enables children and young people to be safeguarded. Please note, this information sharing tool is utilised to share concerns about all forms of child sexual exploitation.

The CSE Information Report Form was developed by Safe and Sound Derby, Derbyshire Constabulary and the UK Human Trafficking Centre (UKHTC) in 2010. It has since been updated, and is now part of Derby Safeguarding Children Board’s Children Abused through Sexual Exploitation Risk Assessment Toolkit (2012).

In addition, the Child Protection Manager with responsibility for child sexual exploitation also chairs multi-agency strategy meetings around individual cases. Professionals, such as Safe and Sound Derby workers, social workers, police, and school nurses attend these meetings to share information about the child’s sexual exploitation or risk of it, agree on a plan to support the child and their family, and agree actions against the individual(s) who is/are exploiting or trying to exploit the child. Children and their parents/carers are also invited to these meetings.

Safe and Sound Derby

December 2012