International Centre for the Study of Sexually Exploited and Trafficked Young People

What's going on to safeguard children and young people from sexual exploitation?

How local partnerships respond to child sexual exploitation.

In June 2009 the government published guidance on Safeguarding Children and Young People from Sexual Exploitation. This was an opportunity for Local Safeguarding Children Boards (LSCBs) to review their approach, consider their policies and develop their procedures.

The report is the result of a major review of the work of LSCBs since 2009 to safeguard children and young people from sexual exploitation, exploring the ways in which LSCBs and partner agencies are implementing the 2009 guidance.

It does not replicate or replace the guidance. It is a commentary on the level of response and it also aims to be a practical document which will raise awareness of the issue of child sexual exploitation in all its complexities. It highlights the key principles involved in safeguarding young people from sexual exploitation and provides practical information on ways that may help to develop an effective strategy, drawn from interviews with practitioners.

The over-arching aim of the project has been to ensure the maximum impact of the government guidance by raising awareness of the need for LSCBs to take action, and by facilitating the sharing of information about the way in which LSCBs and partner agencies respond to the 2009 guidance. The research acknowledges the challenges faced in many areas but also focuses on the many examples of practice deemed to be effective, showing how LSCBs and their statutory and voluntary partners can respond to child sexual exploitation.

Download the 'What's going on' report - - PDF 2.2 MB

Download the 'AYPH Be Healthy Project Summary'. A project training sexually exploited young people as 'health advocates', building peer education expertise through direct work and on-line activities. - PDF 248.8 KB

Youth Gangs, Sexual Violence and Sexual Exploitation. A Scoping Exercise for The Office of the Children's Commissioner for England - PDF 518.9 KB

A new development within the area of research on vulnerable children and young people is the International Centre for the Study of Sexually Exploited and Trafficked Young People.

This is the first international research centre with an exclusive focus upon scholarship in the area of sexual exploitation and trafficking of children and young people. There is an increasing concern in government and welfare and justice agencies about problems associated with the trafficking and sexual exploitation of children and young people.

This Centre aims to develop an international dialogue between academics, practitioners and policy makers who share these concerns.

A strong portfolio of work into issues relating to the sexual exploitation and the trafficking of young people is taking place within the University of Bedfordshire. Associates of the centre have generated innovative research, training and consultancy in this area and the centre will serve as a focal point for the further development of the work.

The Centre has links with a range of organisations working in the field. Centre members have active working links with some of the major children's charities, with the police and government departments in the UK and abroad. For example Professor Jenny Pearce is chair of the National Working Group for Sexually Exploited Children and Young People.

She works on two sub committees for the UKHTC, is on the Home Office Advisory Group for the NSPCC Trafficking Advice Line and is currently working on a Ministry of Justice funded study into gathering evidence against those who sexually exploit young people (with Sue Jago).

Breaking the wall of silence report cover Other topics currently being researched include, 'Young people and trafficking: a research project into practitioners definitions of responses to trafficking', (NSPCC funded). This work will continue whilst new projects and initiatives are developed in collaboration with institutions and organisations in Britain, mainland Europe, Asia and other countries and abroad.