This includes knowing that child sexual exploitation is relatively prevalent:
- 5-16% of children under 16 have been sexually exploited. Child sexual exploitation is under-self- reported.
- 34% who experienced abuse by an adult and 83% who experienced peer contact sexual abuse did not tell anyone else about it.
- In the year to October 2011, 2,409 children were identified as victims of sexual exploitation in gangs and groups. The majority of children are sexually exploited by individuals.
- The average age of sexually exploited children is 15, with a growing cohort of 10-14 year old victims. A significant minority of male and female victims have committed offenses.
- Children who are more vulnerable to sexual exploitation include those with learning difficulties, who have low self-esteem, who are homosexual or bisexual, unaccompanied asylum seeking children, and children who have not received online safety training. With CSE there is always an imbalance of power with the relationship, the exploitative relationship often makes it hard for young people, who are victims to disclose or to build trusting relationships.
We know from the work the British Council undertook - school nursing teams are trusted by young people and they often manage the complex relationships between the child, parents, schools and other professionals, so we knew school nursing teams would be in an idea position to support young people who were at risk of or victims of CSE.
Betsy Allen, lead for school nursing in Devon and Michael Fanner, Health visitor & PhD student at Greenwich together with a fabulous task group led the development of guidance for school nursing teams.
The guidance is designed help practitioners to recognise child sexual exploitation and to understand its effects on health and wellbeing by:
• Summarising the evidence base, including the types of child sexual exploitation, its prevalence and consequences.
• Identifying the school nurse role at different levels of service and outlining a core offer from the school nursing service.
The guidance supports school nursing teams to identify those young people who are at risk early and provide support for victims of CSE. Since publishing the pathway we have received positive feedback from school nurses advising the guidance was much needed and is being used as a tool for training and development
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/helping-school-nurses-to-tackle-child-sexual-exploitation