News & Updates

Working with 16 to 18 year olds

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The CSE Response Unit has been operational for six months now and the team have been out and about supporting practitioners and services across the country on a range of Child Sexual Exploitation related topics.

The CSE Response Unit has the opportunity to share good practice across the country and to raise concerns that services and practitioners have with decision makers at a local and national level.

We have already had a number of constructive discussions at NWG Regional Forums and other local and national meetings along with government departments regarding child sexual exploitation related topics.

In order to make the most of these opportunities I would be really interested in hearing from you regarding a concern which has been raised by a number of agencies and staff from across the country.

The concern is working with the 16 to 18 year old age group. A number of recent national reports and discussions at NWG Regional Forums have raised serious issues about this age group and their risk of sexual exploitation and the lack of support provided for them.

The issues that have been raised include;

  • Current laws do not protect this age group in comparison to younger children. It could also be that the law is not interpreted in a way that protects this age group.
  • The legal age of consent at 16 can be seen as a barrier to bringing predatory adults to justice. This can leave 16 and 17 year olds who are groomed or sexually exploited completely unseen, unprotected and unsupported.
  • Many Local Authorities and other service providers have experienced significant loss of budgets which has impacted on services offered to this age group.
  • Those who are at risk of or NEET ( Not in Education Employment or Training) are a vulnerable group who receive mixed support.
  • When Local Authorities record a young person as “Unknown” when do they become missing?
  • The transition of children at risk of or who have suffered child sexual exploitation has mixed practice across the regions.
  • Number of prosecutions of adults who have exploited this age group.
Despite the above issues there is effective practice which we would like to identify and share across the country. If you are involved in or aware of effective services and practice working with the 16 to 18 age group we would be grateful if you could get in touch.
A particular interest would be areas who have been successful in gaining convictions of perpetrators who have exploited 16 to 18 year olds.

Steve Baguley
CSE Response Unit

If you would like to share your views on the above topic or any other issue relating to child sexual exploitation please email them to [email protected]