The campaign urges professionals working with children and young people and members of the public across Tyne and Wear to contact the charity with “information to identify and safeguard young victims against sexual exploitation and different types of abuse”.
Social media posts by Crimestoppers highlight different types of exploitation affecting children and signs a child is being impacted.
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Joint work ‘key to safeguarding’ in CSE cases
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Police forces struggle to tackle child sexual exploitation cases
The campaign signposts parents, teachers and professionals to Fearless.org, the charity’s youth service, where more information on different types of exploitation can be found.
It also encourages young people to use the website to share concerns about exploitation of themselves or their peers.
Fleur Brown, Crimestoppers North East regional manager said victims of child sexual exploitation “are coerced, manipulated or can be deceived into sexual activity in exchange for items that they may need or want like gifts, vapes, drugs, money, food or even affection”. “We know that criminals manipulate, use violence and intimidation to coerce individuals to do what they want them to do. This level of exploitation often leads to people feeling that they have become trapped and not knowing how to get out.
“We are asking the public to remain vigilant to the signs of child sexual exploitation. We are also appealing to everyone to help protect vulnerable members in our community from other forms of criminal exploitation by telling our charity anonymously what you know,” she said.
An investigation by CYP Now, carried out earlier this year, finds that of 266 child sexual exploitation cases reviewed by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) across 17 police forces in England from 2019 to 2023,136 were handled inadequately, 81 required improvement and just 49 were rated good.
