Actress teams up with the police service to raise awareness of child sexual exploitation

[1] ’Out of Mind, Out of Sight (published June 2011) sought to establish the scale and nature of group associated child sexual abuse in the UK, as well as increase understanding of this type of child abuse. Group associated child sexual abuse has also been referred to as ‘localised grooming’.

Possible signs of sexual abuse

In the film, front-line police officers are asked to pay attention to the following signs that may indicate child sexual abuse:

· Going missing for periods of time or regularly coming home late

· Regularly missing schools

· Appearing with unexpected gifts or new possessions

· Associating with young people involved in exploitation

· Having older boyfriends or girlfriends

· Suffering from sexually transmitted infections

· Mood swings or changes in emotional well-being

· Drug or alcohol misuse

· Displaying inappropriate sexualised behaviour

CEOP Press Office

T: 0870 000 3434

ACPO Press Office

T: 0207 084 8947

NPIA Press Office

T: 0203 113 7241

The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre

CEOP works in both online and offline environments to protect children from sexual exploitation. Full information on all areas of work, as well as online safety messages and access to online reporting, can be found at www.ceop.police.uk

‘Out of Mind, Out of Sight’ – key findings:

Grooming

The assessment looked at group associated grooming and child sexual abuse whereby children are groomed with gifts, food, drugs, cigarettes or alcohol and then sexually exploited and abused by an offender, having initially met in a location outside their home, usually in a public space (such as a park, cinema or at a friend’s house). Offenders often act as a group. Multiple victims and locations of abuse may be involved and victims are often coerced by offenders to persuade friends and peers to engage in similar sexual activity.

Data

Details of 1,875 cases were received by CEOP in relation to localised grooming and child sexual exploitation. Cases included specific investigations, intelligence logs, or submissions from an NGO. This related to 2,083 children and vulnerable young people who were believed to have been groomed, sexually exploited or both.

There were 2,379 people reported to CEOP as being possible offenders in relation to localised grooming and child sexual exploitation.

The data demonstrates that individuals of a variety of ethnic backgrounds perpetrate child sexual exploitation. Given the significant number of offenders for whom ethnicity data is not known, it is not possible to substantiate any suggestion that this type of offending is associated with individuals of a particular ethnic background. Further research would be needed to examine whether the ethnic breakdown reflects issues that need to be addressed within a community context, local demographics of the area from which data is drawn, an unconscious bias among agency responses or other factors that need to be explored. The most reliable data group showed that the ethnicity of 32% of offenders was unknown, 38% were white, 26% Asian, 3% Black and 0.2% Chinese.

Victim experience of localised grooming is diverse, with young people from all backgrounds and all parts of the country. The majority had a history of running away from home and being reported missing on multiple occasions. The majority were disengaged from education, shown by truanting, lack of interest, lethargy or disruptive behaviour.

The full report is available at www.ceop.police.uk/publications