Child exploitation survivors speak out at first flagship Nottinghamshire conference

Attendees at the event on Monday March 18 - a first for Nottinghamshire and held at force headquarters - also heard directly from a number of child exploitation survivors who shared their own personal lived experiences to help increase understanding, sharing their insights to help police and partners strengthen their collective response.

Partner agencies who gathered together at the conference included police, health practitioners and safeguarding leads, social care, local authority and Crown Prosecution service representatives, youth justice, and education safeguarding leads.

The event was also supported by the Tackling Organised Exploitation Programme (TOEX), the Child Sexual Exploitation Taskforce (led by the Hydrant Programme), and representatives from The Children’s Society.

Yesterday’s event coincides with today’s national Child Exploitation Awareness Day and the launch of a local campaign #NotMyShame, which has been launched by the Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Children Safeguarding Partnerships.

The campaign aims to send a clear message that victims of exploitation are never to blame and urges Nottinghamshire residents to join the fight against child exploitation by being vigilant in spotting the signs and reporting concerns to authorities.

Detective Inspector Dan Evans said: “Yesterday’s conference brought together 144 attendees from across all partner agencies to increase awareness as well being able to share knowledge on how we can improve our vital collective response around tackling child exploitation.

“The feedback we’ve had from partners has been exceptional.

"There were some really impactful lived experience presentations given by survivors of child exploitation which really resonated with the attendees and highlighted the need to proactively raise awareness of this horrific crime type in Nottinghamshire.

“The conference also helped people understand that tackling child exploitation isn’t just about criminal justice outcomes. We need to look at how we can work together to support survivors in the best way we can.”

The general public has a vital role to play in helping to tackle child exploitation and #NotMy Shame campaign is urging people to be vigilant in spotting the signs and reporting concerns to authorities.

Perpetrators of child exploitation can be individuals or groups who take advantage of an imbalance of power to coerce, control, manipulate or deceive a child or young person.

Sexual exploitation often involves the grooming of young children, the promise of items such as money, vapes, drugs, alcohol, and gifts in return for sexual contact or sharing of indecent images on-line.

Criminal exploitation relates to the exploitation of children to carry drugs, forced into ‘County Lines’ or commit other criminal offences by adults.

Nottinghamshire Police specialist investigation teams have been proactively working to crack down on criminals and organised crime groups who exploit children.

As well as having a dedicated multi-agency child at risk of exploitation team working to protect children from exploitation and disrupt perpetrators, officers from the team have visited hotels in Nottinghamshire as part of Operation Makesafe, a nationwide initiative to protect vulnerable young people from harm.

Anyone with concerns about the exploitation of children should contact the police by calling 101, or 999 in an emergency.

Concerns can also be reported to MASH, Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) | Nottinghamshire County Council

For more information about the campaign visit #NotMyShame child exploitation campaign launches in Nottinghamshire