4Children deputy chief executive Charles Ellis.
There has been a systematic failure to tackle the problem of gang-related violence and sexual victimisation of children and young people. The scale and nature of this form of sexual violence left the recent children's commissioner for England inquiry into child sexual exploitation in gangs and groups aghast: every year nearly 2,500 young people are victims in this way, with a further 16,500 at risk.
However, there have been some encouraging signs of progress in tackling gang crime in a number of English cities, including in supporting girls and women associated with gangs. Effective multi-agency work in cities such as Manchester and some areas of London helped shape the Ending Youth and Gang Violence strategy, developed in response to the disorder in cities across England in August 2011. However, this work has failed to acknowledge to any real degree the growing problem of gang-related sexual violence, often carried out by children against other children as young as 11 years old.
Organised crime links
There is also a growing understanding of the links to organised crime groups who abuse young people. Tackling this kind of organised criminality cannot just be a role for the police. It is vital that we engage specialist preventative and support agencies - both voluntary and statutory - into the organised crime world.
All too often those tasked with protecting our children do not act early enough, instead watching the risks grow from the sidelines and waiting until children have been abused before they intervene. Furthermore, competing demands on their reducing budgets are also presenting significant challenges, resulting in the disappearance of some voluntary sector services for sexually exploited children and young people.
This is simply not good enough. Every child that we fail and let become a victim of sexual violence is someone who will have to deal with the consequences of that failure for the rest of their life.
As a society we must work together to create an environment in which such abuse cannot happen, with informed, empowered children, supported by their families or carers, who are helped to avoid the risks within an effective framework involving statutory and voluntary agencies working together.
Research for the children's commissioner found that in most cases, the same problem arises: no one spoke or attended to the child and that agencies failed to share information. Within gangs, control is exerted over victims in many different ways including threats of reprisals and violence, and grooming, meaning a fear of not being believed if they report what has happened to them.
As the children's commissioner's inquiry has acknowledged, there are many hard-working professionals in both statutory and voluntary agencies who are working to protect these young people, and there are examples of where joint working between agencies means they have been able to find the resources to do this work and do it well. From these, the inquiry developed a new evidence-based framework for protecting children and young people from sexual exploitation - See Me, Hear Me - which aims to bring the child's voice right into the heart of the child protection process.
In response to this, the national children's charity 4Children has carried out research over the last six months to develop a new model and approach for intervening that we believe will provide an effective new way of delivering on this framework and offering this protection.
The model sets out the approach that we believe will make a real difference to the lives of these vulnerable children. First, it needs to be holistic and integrated across the whole family, which is measured and incremental. It is crucial that any approach be appropriate to the issues faced and that it is family-focused and not just deal with particular issues that are the highest priority.
The approach also needs to be inclusive of each of the following:
- Early intervention measures, targeting issues as quickly and early as possible before they escalate into more serious issues, and avoiding repetition.
- Proportionate responses for those children and families who are just coping and on the edge of crisis.
- A targeted and evidence-based approach for those children and families who are in the greatest need.
- On those rare occasions where the "whole family" approach does not work, then the response must focus solely on providing improved outcomes for the children and young people themselves.
- A process that allows young people to voice their own opinions, knowledge and influence to shape and have real impact on policy and services.
Preventing and Protecting
Following on from this work, 4Children will be holding a conference in London on 26 March, Preventing and Protecting: Safeguarding the Victims of Sexual Victimisation, Organised Crime and Gang-related Violence. The event will consider these issues, bringing forward examples of good practice and seek to engage with professionals and young people on our approach. Speakers will include Norman Baker MP, the minister responsible for crime prevention at the Home Office; Sue Berelowitz, deputy children's commissioner for England; and Professor John Pitts, Professor of Socio-legal Studies at the University of Bedfordshire.
- For further details visit www.4Children.org.uk/event.
