I Don’t Want to Go Down That Road - The Harms Inflicted on Criminally Exploited Children
Summary
In March 2024, Action for Children published the findings of the Jay Review, an extensive UK-wide review of exploitation. In October 2024, Action for Children published a follow-up report. Using safeguarding incident data from Action for Children’s services, the report examines the harms caused to exploited children across the country and the response of local support and law enforcement agencies.
Details
Action for Children analysed serious safeguarding incident data involving young people supported by the service between 2020-2024. There were 179 reported serious incidents affecting 140 young people. What follows are some key findings from the report’s analysis of these incidents:
- 107 incidents (60%) involved serious assaults.
- 59 incidents (33%) involved weapons, including knives, baseball bats, acid, metal poles, and dog chains.
- 41 incidents (23%) involved children harming others due to exploitation.
- 21 incidents (12%) involved child trafficking across the UK.
- Tragically, two children were murdered, and 50 suffered life-changing injuries from stabbings.
- Over 90% of children feared reporting information about their exploiters, citing concerns about repercussions.
The researchers concluded that:
- Frontline services face significant challenges in identifying and safeguarding exploited children. The lack of a unified approach that considers risk factors leads to inconsistencies, often leaving children unsupported until after they experience significant harm.
- Children affected by exploitation are frequently viewed through a criminal lens rather than as victims needing protection. The lack of coordination between law enforcement and supportive agencies delays preventative measures and care. Furthermore, law enforcement exhibited little recognition of the context offered by the exploitation of the child ‘offenders’, reflecting the lack of a framework that treats exploitation as a form of child abuse.
- Children frequently come to the attention of services only after significant harm has already occurred – when they are criminalised or hospitalised
- Certain groups, such as children with neurodiverse conditions, those not enrolled in school and/or are unemployed, those using substances, and children in temporary housing, are particularly common in the exploited youth population.
- The absence of an explicit classification of criminal exploitation as a form of child abuse restricts the ability of safeguarding services to prioritise victim support over criminal justice responses. As a result, exploited children may face punitive measures rather than protective and rehabilitative interventions.
They Made the Following Recommendations:
- Increased Investment: More resources for targeted prevention and support, focusing on specialist services and statutory safeguarding responses.
- Recognising Exploitation as Child Abuse: A unified practice framework that treats exploitation as a distinct form of child abuse, prioritising protection over criminalisation.
- Welfare-First Approach: A response system that acknowledges exploited children as victims rather than offenders, with specialist support in local youth justice teams to address their unique needs and vulnerabilities.
Commentary
This report underscores the urgent need for a compassionate, welfare-based, wellness-centered approach to child exploitation. The lack of recognition of exploitation as child abuse reflects a failure to treat exploited children as victims. The report’s identification of several risk factors - the use of substances, neurodivergent conditions, homelessness, and lack of education - that increase vulnerability to exploitation, provide a roadmap for necessary targeted prevention efforts.
Written by
Lila Sternoff, Cornell University