Tackling Child Exploitation
If you have immediate concerns about a child, get help and advice here
Worried about an adult? Please visit the Safeguarding Adults Board website
Tackling the exploitation of children and young adults is a shared priority for the Missing and Exploitation (MEG) Group, made up of representatives from Our Safeguarding Children Partnership, Safer Cornwall and the Safeguarding Adults Board.
The MEG Group takes an 'all age' approach and provides direction and co-ordination in the response to missing people and exploitation across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.
They share ownership of the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Exploitation Strategy (tackling the exploitation of children and young people). Exploitation can happen to a person of any age, this strategy focuses on children and young people up to the age of 25.
Contextual Safeguarding and MACE
Contextual Safeguarding is an approach to understanding and responding to children's experiences of significant harm beyond their family and home. This approach recognises the different relationships children have in their schools, peer groups, online and in their community and reinforces the need for partnership and collaborative working.
The Missing and Child Exploitation (MACE) Process offers a contextual approach and provides the operational response to all forms of exploitation of children and young adults to the age of 25. It is supported by representatives from statutory and community services.
All concerns relating to potential perpetrators of child exploitation and / or locations, venues or vehicles relating to actual/potential exploitation of children should be made via the MARU referral process.
More information about MACE processes in Cornwall is available here.
Prevent & Channel - Preventing Violent Extremism
Prevent is part of the Government’s Counter Terrorism Strategy.
The Prevent Strategy focuses on providing support at an early stage to people who are identified as being vulnerable to being exploited and drawn into terrorism.
Prevent is a safeguarding process, like any other. It’s the responsibility of all of us to play our part in safeguarding people from harm.
Prevent protects people from being exploited by extremists in the same way that we protect people from, neglect, sexual exploitation, drugs, gangs and modern-day slavery etc.
Channel is an early intervention multi-agency safeguarding scheme that supports people who are at risk of radicalisation and provides practical support tailored to individual needs.
The aim is to intervene as early as possible to ensure that people of any faith, ethnicity or background who are at risk of radicalisation receive support before their vulnerabilities are exploited by those that would want them to embrace terrorism, and before they become involved in criminal terrorist activity.
- In Cornwall and The Isles of Scilly the local Prevent team have developed this Handbook. It tells you more about Prevent and Channel, who might be vulnerable to radicalisation and how to spot them as well as where to refer people for help.
- You can read more about preventing violent extremism in Cornwall and The Isles of Scilly here.
Related Guidance & Further Reading
Safeguarding children at risk from criminal exploitation - 'It was hard to escape' - a national review, undertaken by the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel (DfE)
The Tackling Child Exploitation Support Programme from Research in Practice supports local areas to develop an effective strategic response to child exploitation and threats from outside the family home. View the tackling child exploitation resources here.
Research in Practice Podcast - Safeguarding Children and Young People from Exploitation
This Child Exploitation Language Guide from the Children Society provides guidance on the avoidance of victim-blaming language or any implication that a child or young person is complicit in exploitation. They also provide a toolkit for supporting parents and carers.
Barnardo's also reviewed their Language Matters guide in 2022 and 2024 in recognition of the pace of change in the field.
The NWG Network aims to inform, educate and prevent child exploitation and abuse throughout the UK. They have many resources available to support professionals available here.
Training
OSCP Exploitation Webinar - this session has been developed jointly by Devon & Cornwall Police and Cornwall children’s social care to help professionals identify and respond effectively to emerging signs of exploitation. The session also provides an update on developments in Cornwall’s response to exploitation. Click here to book.
OSCP Understanding the Impact of Neurodiversity, Trauma and Exploitation - this session provides a deeper understanding of the impact of trauma and exploitation for Children and Young Adults, who are neurodivergent particularly in terms of the local landscape. Specialist leads within the NWG team then provide a national overview of this subject by sharing the learning gained from practice. They focus on:
- Real life examples from NWG surgeries
- Relevant points to raise from The National Audit by Baroness Casey
- Highlighting identified Local and National challenges for practice
Free combating CSE Training is available here.
- Information for parents and carers is available here
- And there is information for children and young people available here
Click here to see our campaign page #CEtheSigns and access the shareable resources.