Sexually exploited children failed by children's trusts

The Whose Child Now? report, which claims sexually exploited children are being failed by services, accuses children’s trusts of ignoring government guidance that requires such children to be considered as part of local children and young people's plans.

The report claims more work must be done to protect children who run away from home. Of the sexually exploited children that Barnardo’s works with, 55 per cent went missing on a regular basis.

The report also found that one in six sexually exploited children have been trafficked within the UK, from town to town.

Martin Narey, chief executive of Barnardo’s, said his charity has worked with more than 1,000 child victims of sexual exploitation in just 20 local authority areas.

He said: "We don’t know the true extent of this problem. But we know, however hidden from the public eye it might be, it affects many thousands of children. We shouldn’t have to do this work. But men are not going to stop the predatory sexual abuse of girls and sometimes boys. We shall not stop trying to thwart such men and help their victims escape from their clutches."

Wendy Shepherd, a service and programme manager for Barnardo’s in the North East, said sexual exploitation is becoming more organised.

She warned: "The criminals who abuse are more sophisticated. There are networks of older men grooming and trafficking children within the UK. It’s a growing phenomenon and it’s extremely difficult to police."

Barnardo’s is now calling on every children’s trust to undertake a risk assessment to ascertain if child sexual exploitation is happening locally.

Colin Green, child protection policy lead for the Association of Directors of Children's Services, said: "Sexual exploitation of children is clearly a problem that needs to be tackled, but the extent of the problem is extremely difficult to measure due to the difficulty in gathering data in this area and the variety of behaviour that could fall into this category. Local authorities are aware of their responsibilities and along with their partners, are taking action and we would expect all staff to be aware of the potential for sexual exploitation, particularly among vulnerable groups."