Smart ways to protect vulnerable children from sexual exploitation

A column for outside contributors. Contact: agenda@theherald.co.uk

Keeping children safe is a priority for our policing service. Protecting our children and young people and targeting those who commit offences against children either through abuse, neglect or sexual exploitation, means we are supporting some of the most vulnerable in our society and sending a clear message to offenders that we will target those who commit such crimes.

Since the beginning of this year, we have been building a National Child Abuse Investigation Unit within the service.

With locations across Scotland in Inverness, Aberdeen, Glasgow and its main hub in Livingston, this unit has 50 highly trained officers who have been provided with additional specialist training that will equip them with a range of skills to will build on the good work our local child protection teams carry out across the country and ensure this additional resource is available, no matter where and when the need.

Recent cases across the UK of sexual offences committed by highprofile individuals and within communities has raised awareness of the issues of abuse and exploitation and, as a policing service, we must continue to develop and improve our policing response to ensure that those who may have suffered are confident to come forward and report such crimes whether they have happened now or in the past, secure in the knowledge their concerns will be taken seriously and thoroughly investigated. The creation of this unit will help bring that consistency of approach.

We know that child abuse and exploitation are under-reported and will be taking place in communities across the country.

The complex nature of child sexual exploitation means victims often feel unable to report and, with changing technologies, there can often be no geographical boundaries to these crimes. By identifying and addressing the intelligence gaps, we are able to focus on detecting offenders and disrupting their activities. The unit is also helping us build awareness of child sexual exploitation and develop our shared intelligence and understanding of those children and young people who may be at risk from harm. Work with our partners locally and at a national level is key to this and, through support from other areas within Police Scotland, it allows us to develop a clear approach to child sexual exploitation and to those reported missing, promoting online internet safety and reaching across all our communities to encourage victims to come forward and report.

We are running a pilot scheme to improve our response to cases of young people who go missing from looked-after accommodation. Part of this is the conduct of return interviews, carried out when young people who have been reported missing have been found, or returned on their own.

These are crucial for many reasons, helping us understand why and where young people go, and reveal any other causes that may prompt their decision to leave. It also helps if they go missing again and in building our understanding of why young people go missing in the first place.

A recent sample of all missing person cases identified that those between the ages of 14 and 16 were most commonly recorded. Analysis of the locations across Scotland from which people went missing identified that the top 10 were from children’s homes or hospitals. By improving our intelligence and working with our partners, we can take a preventative approach to protecting those at risk and targeting offenders.

We are developing systems for recording intelligence and concerns in relation to child sexual exploitation which includes child protection, domestic abuse and managing youth offending, but our shared success in keeping children and young people safe is only achieved through work with local authorities and in the NHS, health and voluntary agencies and others at a local and national level. The goal is to improve the outcomes for vulnerable young people through early and effective intervention.

This will also help us meet the requirements of the Children and Young Persons (Scotland) Act which places a legal requirement on Police Scotland and our partners through the responsibility as a “corporate parent” to safeguard, support and promote the wellbeing of children and young people. Malcolm Graham is Assistant Chief Constable, Major Crime and Public Protection, with Police Scotland.