Twenty‐First Century Party People: Young People and Sexual Exploitation in the New Millennium

Abstract

This article reviews existing evidence and debates in relation to young people and sexual exploitation in the light of new empirical evidence generated through primary research. This research explored the types of sexual exploitation that practitioners had worked with in the preceding year and Local Safeguarding Children Boards’ responses to young people's sexual exploitation. The findings indicate that there may be several models of sexual exploitation operating simultaneously in any particular area, and the article therefore suggests that the discourse on young people's sexual exploitation that has dominated policy and practice for more than a decade in the UK requires reconsideration to account for the complex forms of sexual exploitation young people experience in the 21st century. The paper suggests that, in order to provide young people with the most appropriate support, practice responses need to be developed from the concrete conditions in which young people are subject to sexual exploitation, rather than applying abstract ‘models’ that fail to capture the lived experience of the young people concerned. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Key Practitioner Messages There is confusion in relation to identifying child sexual exploitation.Several models of child sexual exploitation may be operating simultaneously in any one place and at any one time.Practitioners need to account for the agency and decision‐making process of young people when working with those who are sexually exploited.

Closing the Gap: Confronting the Problem of Hotels as Venues for Child Sexual Exploitation

“…Melrose () notes the confusion which abounds in attempts to identify CSE. This confusion persists in spite of numerous policy initiatives, and results, in part, from the fact that professionals’ knowledge of this problem remains limited (Swann ; Barnardo's ).…”

“…As already noted, the complex nature of this problem is underscored by the fact that several forms of sexual exploitation may be evident in any one area at the same time (Melrose ). ‘Localised (or on‐street) grooming’ – from 2012 the focus of a year‐long enquiry by the Home Affairs Select Committee – is a model which is attracting considerable attention.…”

“…Attempts to address this problem are compounded by such vulnerability, which proves attractive to abusers (Sloan ; Westcott and Clement ; Stuart and Baines ). Difficulties are also encountered because many different forms of CSE coexist (Melrose ). Perpetrators might operate alone or in groups.…”

“…Perpetrators might operate alone or in groups. Children and young people might experience exploitation over the Internet, through their involvement in a gang, as a result of grooming by adults, through trafficking, either within the UK or from overseas, or through recruitment by peers (Melrose ).…”

‘I Have My Life Back’: Recovering from Child Sexual Exploitation

“…Definitional uncertainty characterizes CSE despite the lengthy definition developed by the National Working Group and endorsed by the Government in their supplementary guidance (DCSF 2009). The uncertainty arises from the many permutations and forms of CSE; from the lone perpetrator recruiting on the internet, to sexual assault by young men at parties (Melrose, 2013) to groups of men who act collectively to groom young girls. The current definition is not all encompassing because acts of CSE are both part of the safeguarding arena but also that of gender based violence (Brayley & Cockbain 2014).…”