Child Exploitation

Children and young people can be exploited in many ways, including being trafficked, sexually exploited and used to run drugs. All of these come under the banner of child exploitation.

Understanding of child exploitation and the scale of the problem is still limited. What we do know is that there is a need for agencies to work together to understand the bigger picture, using tools such as contextual safeguarding alongside an understanding of the different ways in which children and young people may be exploited.

As Raquel Vieth, part of the Tackling Child Exploitation Support Programme (commissioned in 2022 to help support multi-agency collaboration), says:

A strong response to these types of harms requires a collaborative and aligned partnership working across agencies, communities, families, and with children and young people.

Raquel Vieth, 2023

Definition of child exploitation

Child exploitation is when someone uses a child for financial gain, sexual gratification, labour or personal advantage.

Using cruel and violent treatment to force a child to take part in criminal or sexual activities often leads to physical and emotional harm to the child, to the detriment of their physical and mental health, education, and moral or social development.

“The exploitation of children can take a number of different forms and perpetrators may subject children and young people to multiple forms of abuse at the same time, such as criminal exploitation (including county lines) and sexual exploitation.”

The Home Office, 2019 (updated 2022)

Child Exploitation poster

Download our Substance Abuse poster or sign-up to our monthly posters by post service.

Download

Child criminal exploitation

Expand

Child criminal exploitation “occurs where an individual or group takes advantage of an imbalance in power to coerce, manipulate or deceive a child into taking part in… criminal activity, in exchange for something the victim needs or wants, and/or for the financial advantage or increased status of the perpetrator or facilitator and/or through violence or the threat of violence.”

“They may still have been criminally exploited even if the activity appears to be something they have agreed or consented to.”

Adapted from Keeping Children Safe in Education

CCE involves children and young people up to the age of 18. It is not possible to identify a lower age limit for when children become exposed to CCE as indications are that the starting ages across all of the forms of CCE identified below, are getting younger. Arguably, the younger the child, the less likely they are to be arrested or identified by law enforcement (the age of criminal responsibility – i.e. the age at which you can be arrested for a crime – is 10 years old in England). It is important to remember that all children and young people are potentially vulnerable to exploitation and come from a range of backgrounds.

The common feature across all the forms of CCE is the imbalance of power. Children and young people will receive something in exchange for them completing acts or favours for the person exploiting them. The something may be gifts, status in a group or gang, somewhere to live, etc. The acts or favours required in return are usually criminal in nature.

The imbalance of power means that consent is not considered, and the choices that the child or young person believes that they have may be nothing of the sort.

Child sexual exploitation

Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) is a form of sexual abuse. In return for gifts, money, drugs, affection, and status, children and young people are coerced, manipulated and deceived into performing sexual activities. It is not just something that affects teenage girls or specific groups and can happen in and out of school. Children and young people can be tricked into believing they are part of a loving and consensual relationship that could be framed as friendship, mentoring or romantic. Children as young as 8 have been sexually exploited.

The imbalance of power means that consent is not considered, and the choices that the child or young person believes that they have may be nothing of the sort.

County lines

County lines are illegal drug dealing networks between large urban centres, small towns and rural locations. Children and young people are coerced, using intimidation, blackmail and violence, to transport and sell drugs, cash and weapons across the country via dedicated mobile phone lines which may be referred to as “deal lines”.

Trafficking

The movement of humans from one place to another for the purposes of forced labour, slavery or sexual exploitation is understood to be one of the fastest-growing areas of transnational criminal organisations, and has devastating effects on the victims.

Recruitment is often via social media with handles such as “free” or “easy” money, and offers of being able to make money “working from home”. It is sold as a simple process, just putting money into their account and then transferring it to someone else, keeping a cut. Research by CIFAS (Credit Industry Fraud Avoidance System) in September 2019 identified a 73 percent rise over two years in the of children aged 14-18 being used as money mules in this way. The research suggests that teenagers often do not realise that what they are being asked to do is illegal.

Children who are caught will face criminal investigations, lose any of the money that they kept as their “fee”, have their bank accounts closed and often find it difficult to open an account anywhere else. This will then impact their chances of getting loans, lines of credit, mobile phones, etc. in the future.

For more information, including videos see moneymules.co.uk or the Money Advice Service.

Modern Slavery

Modern slavery can affect anyone, regardless of age and gender. Research in March 2022 reported an increase of 27% (to 3,239) in the number of modern slavery offences involving a child victim recorded by the police in England and Wales. Modern slavery is mostly a hidden crime, and getting a true picture of its prevalence is very challenging. Modern slavery is seen as an umbrella term.

For more information, including videos see moneymules.co.uk or the Money Advice Service.

Money mules

Expand

There is evidence to suggest that teenagers are being targeted by criminals intending to use the teenager’s bank accounts to launder money, and in return, they get to keep some of the money themselves.

Recruitment is often via social media with handles such as “free” or “easy money”, and offers of being able to make money “working from home”. It is sold as a simple process, just putting money into their account and then transferring it to someone else, keeping a cut. Research by CIFAS (Credit Industry Fraud Avoidance System) in September 2019 identified a 73 percent rise over two years of children and young people aged 14-18 being used as money mules. The research suggests that teenagers often do not realise that what they are being asked to do is illegal.

For more information, including videos, see moneymules.co.uk or the National Crime Agency.

One of the key messages from those working with children involved in the different aspects of child exploitation is to not give up trying to work with the children and young people, even where they are unwilling to engage.

The TCE programme highlights the importance of perseverance in safeguarding professionals and how that is interpreted by children:

A lot of people give up on me really easily because they don’t see that I’m engaging, or they don’t think I’m trying or something. It’s not that, it’s just I can’t trust them, if that makes sense. They need to show that they’re going to stay a bit before I can offload and open up to them.

(Child/young person), Tackling Child Exploitation, 2023

Resources

Consent: It’s as Simple as Tea

YouTube video by Thames Valley police to help people of all ages understand what is meant by consent using the analogy of a cup of tea.

Open link
Spot the Signs: Child Exploitation Poster Hub

Catch 22 has put together a series of posters to help safeguarding professionals, and anyone interested in safeguarding, learn more about child exploitation. Topics include recognising healthy relationships, how gangs coerce children and young people, spotting a runaway child and factors that make a child vulnerable to exploitation.

Open link
Criminal Exploitation Toolkit

This toolkit is provided by The Children’s Society and offers help to those supporting children and young people who are at risk of child criminal exploitation.

Open link
Protecting Children From Criminal Exploitation, Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery: An Addendum

This report is about the findings from three joint targeted area inspections, carried out in 2018 (updated 2020) and examines ‘the multi-agency response to child exploitation and children missing from home, care or education’. It is an addendum to the 2016 report: ‘‘Time to listen – a joined-up response to child sexual exploitation and missing children”.

Open link
Child Exploitation Disruption Toolkit

The toolkit is primarily aimed at frontline staff including law enforcement, social care, education, housing and the voluntary sector, working to safeguard children and young people under the age of 18 from sexual and criminal exploitation.

Open link
Excluded, Exploited, Forgotten: Childhood Criminal Exploitation and School Exclusions

There is a clear, and near-universally acknowledged, statistical link between exclusions and children and young people becoming involved in violent crime as either victims or perpetrators. Children and young people outside of mainstream education are at an increased risk even if a causative link has not yet been proved. This report describes one way in which this phenomenon manifests – through the process of child criminal exploitation (CCE).

Open link
Excluded or Missing from Education and Child Exploitation

This report examines the relationship between school exclusion and child exploitation. It also examines awareness and safeguarding practice around school exclusion and exploitation and highlights good practice.

Open link
It Was Hard to Escape: Safeguarding Children at Risk from Criminal Exploitation

The safeguarding system is facing organised criminal businesses that are skilled at identifying and entrapping children and young people in their activities. Their business model depends on the exploitation of children and young people – using coercion, control and manipulation – to push them into criminal activity. Too many children and young people are dying or suffering serious harm because of criminal exploitation, and this is unacceptable. Investment in helping to protect this group is essential and urgent. Doing nothing is not an option. This national review aims to identify what might be done differently by practitioners to improve approaches to protecting children and young people who find themselves threatened with violence and serious harm by criminal gangs.

Open link
The Slang Dictionary

Produced by the Children’s Society, this slang dictionary seeks to support parents, carers and professionals to better understand the language young people may be using and support them to safeguard young people. It is important to recognise that if a young person uses this language, it does not necessarily mean they are being exploited. This resource aims to support parents, carers and professionals to start conversations with young people and raise awareness around this language.

Download

Child Exploitation

Definition of child exploitation

Child Exploitation poster

Child criminal exploitation

Child sexual exploitation

County lines

Trafficking

Modern Slavery

Money mules

Resources

Consent: It’s as Simple as Tea

Spot the Signs: Child Exploitation Poster Hub

Criminal Exploitation Toolkit

Protecting Children From Criminal Exploitation, Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery: An Addendum

Child Exploitation Disruption Toolkit

Excluded, Exploited, Forgotten: Childhood Criminal Exploitation and School Exclusions

Excluded or Missing from Education and Child Exploitation

It Was Hard to Escape: Safeguarding Children at Risk from Criminal Exploitation

The Slang Dictionary