This course will help those who work with children and young people to recognise that both boys and girls can be vulnerable to child sexual exploitation including prostitution, abusive images, grooming, trafficking and through usage and exposure to new technology.
This course will help you understand and recognise the issue, implement safeguarding procedures and respond appropriately. It will enable you to understand that ‘child sexual exploitation’ is ‘child abuse’. Define the issue to include all forms of sexual exploitation, update your knowledge of new legislation, offer guidance and policy relating to sexually active young people, recognise vulnerability and warning signs and explore direct services for best practice responses.
Learning Outcomes:
- To understand the definitions of child exploitation and child sexual exploitation.
- To understand the legislative framework in relation to child exploitation and to explore the statutory guidance provided to support practitioners where child exploitation is a risk.
- To review recommendations from child learning practice reviews and serious case reviews in the context of child exploitation.
- To develop an understanding of how best to prevent child exploitation.
- To consider the factors which increase risk for children and young people of being exploited.
- To understand some of the challenges associated with working with children and young people who are at risk of/are being exploited.
- To understand the connections between child exploitation and other criminal activity.
- To develop a knowledge of grooming and the ways in which children/young people may become exploited.
- To understand the emotional impact of child exploitation for; children and young people, families and practitioners.
- To consider the importance of preventative work with children and young people, including: the development of healthy relationships, the importance of consent, how to communicate to others when a situation has become dangerous.
- To develop an understanding of the short and long term impact of exploitation for: victims, families, communities and practitioners.
- To understand the importance of a long term approach where exploitation has been a factor for a child or young person and how to avoid further potentially exploitative situations from causing harm.
- To understand how to work with children and young people in ways which allow them to understand that they are being or have been exploited.
Additional Learning Outcomes:
- To understand expected adolescent risk taking behaviour in the context of exploitation.
- To explore the definition of contextual safeguarding and understand the challenges for practitioners where harm has been recognised outside of the family setting.