Child exploitation is happening in Warwickshire: new website launching during Child Exploitation Awareness Week to highlight issue
Do you know what child exploitation is?
Child exploitation is when an abuser takes advantage of a young person under the age of 18 for their own personal gain. This can take many forms, including sexual exploitation or encouraging or coercing the child to commit crime. It often comes with the promise of something they desire as a reward and without knowing they are being exploited.
Did you know child exploitation is happening in Warwickshire?
Hundreds of children and young people are victims of child exploitation every year in Warwickshire.
We all have a responsibility to spot the signs and report it.
Next week Warwickshire County Council will be supporting national Child Exploitation Awareness Day (18 March) to highlight the different types of child exploitation and what signs to look for in children and young people who may be being exploited.
Throughout next week (WC 15th March) awareness messages will be shared across social media to raise awareness of child exploitation and to support the launch of the new ‘Something’s Not Right’ website, which has been a collaboration between Warwickshire Police, Warwickshire County Council, Barnardo’s and the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Warwickshire.
This new website is packed full of useful information and resources for children and young people, parents, teachers, and people in the community such as licensees and professionals to equip everyone in Warwickshire with an understanding of child exploitation, how to spot the signs and who to speak to if something’s not right.
The aim of supporting Child Exploitation Awareness Day and the launch of the new website is to highlight the issues surrounding CE; encouraging everyone to think, spot and speak out against abuse. Please support the launch of the new website next week and beyond by sharing our social media messages across Facebook and Twitter and take time to recognise the signs of abuse.
We have promotional material that we would encourage anyone from any school to make use of across social media to strike up conversations with others, including associates in other organisations or clubs, friends or family, to help raise the profile of child exploitation so it can be more widely recognised and tackled.
To find out more about child exploitation, how to spot the signs and information for professionals, parents and the general public, you can view the new child exploitation website at www.somethingsnotright.co.uk
To download the toolkit and access the social media graphics and messages, click here. Don’t forget to use #WarwickshireCE across your social media posts so we can share them!
If you would like to find out more about CE training available for professionals and the community, please contact Rebecca Weaver, Advanced CSE Practitioner for Barnardo’s within the Warwickshire Exploitation, Missing and Trafficking Team: rebecca.weaver@barnardos.org.uk
Thank you for your support.