The number of recorded incidents of online sexual abuse of children is growing. According to the National Police Chief’s Council, online cases represent 32% of child sexual abuse and exploitation.
This is borne out by the ages and experiences of the children now being referred to our What is Sexual Exploitation (WiSE) team. The average age we work with is 12 to 20 years but we’ve seen an increase in children aged five to 10 and this is due to their access to the online world through games, social networking sites and apps.
The risks to children and young people have also increased, with varied cases that include active perpetrators, the sharing of indecent images and international abuse. The impact on children is poor mental health and wellbeing, isolation, self-harm and the obscurity of what healthy, happy relationships and interactions look like.
We provide trauma-informed support to children and young people who have been, or are at risk of being, sexually exploited. Our specialist workers, some of whom are former police officers, social workers and teachers, work across Sussex and Surrey.
In 2023-2024 we supported 289 children and young people. These included complex exploitation cases which were referred to us through children’s services, health, education and the police.
Another important part of our work is training professionals and focusing on prevention in schools.
It’s vital for professionals working with children and young people to understand the challenges presented by the online world, how children interact and the language they use about their experiences. We want to support those who work with children and young people to increase their knowledge and confidence to spot the signs of child sexual exploitation. Our team help them create trauma-informed interventions, sharing our knowledge and resources for better contextual safeguarding.
In March, we’ll be joining the National Child Exploitation Awareness day campaign. But in the meantime, you can read more on our important work here YMCA WiSE. If you’d like to find out more about our training for professionals and schools, please email [email protected].
