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Since its adoption by the United Nations in November 1989, the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) has become the most universally ratified human rights treaty in history; presently only the United States has not ratified it. The CRC articulates children's human rights and notably includes freedom from sexual abuse and exploitation. Yet thirty years after the Convention was adopted, child sexual abuse and exploitation (CSA/E) remain serious, persistent, and evolving global issues. This overview both describes the current state of research on child sexual abuse and exploitation and evaluates the CRC's legacy in terms of State-level responses to CSA/E. Points of agreement and disagreement over what constitutes CSA/E and how widespread it is are explored. Also presented are the contexts in which CSA/E takes place, and factors associated with children's risk of being sexually abused or exploited. Emerging issues in these areas are the internet and children's use of it, as children may now become subject to abuse or exploitation even when physically alone. The second part of the paper addresses the CRC's influence on States' domestic legislation and States' responses to CSA/E more broadly. Gaps in efforts to monitor and report on the CRC's implementation with respect to its impact on CSA/E are described. The discussion offers guidance for future efforts to research and respond to child sexual abuse and exploitation, and in particular the ongoing need for support to survivors beyond the legal response paradigm., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child confirmed child and youth rights globally. Their right to participation is a critical driver for the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Youth prioritize the need to end violence against them, charging adults with safeguarding, and identify gender inequality as an underlying cause of child sexual exploitation (CSE). SDG 5 includes targets for ending sexual exploitation of girls; however, it is critical to review whether we are supporting both boys and girls adequately. Based on recent research, it is clear that male victims of CSE are prevalent, yet they have been relatively excluded in policy, research, and interventions. The aim is not to minimize the importance of understanding and eliminating CSE of girls, but to acknowledge that vulnerable sub-groups of boys exist in community (street-connected boys, refugees, sexual minorities) and service systems (justice, child welfare, humanitarian aid). Gender-based challenges persist in protection, disclosure, help-seeking, professional recognition, programming and prevention. In this discussion article, we outline responsibilities in human rights law to understand and address boys' CSE and overview key literature on its impact on boys. It is argued that gender-, trauma-, and violence-informed approaches are expanded to address the contribution of harmful gender norms, and to target prevention in the adolescent years for sexually transmitted infections, mental health, and substance abuse and violence problems. This discussion advances a pressing need for a global analysis of CSE among boys., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Over decades, research practitioners have highlighted how survivors of sexual abuse in childhood face strong forms of stigma including victim‐blaming, shame and social isolation. However, the data and evidence are disproportionately slanted towards the global North. Shifting the focus to the global South, this reflective piece draws on two substantial multicountry research projects to highlight the expectations and experiences of young survivors of child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA) in their quest for support. By applying a socio‐ecological analysis, it demonstrates how societal stigma—from both professionals and young people themselves—compounds the help‐seeking process. The findings support the well‐documented concept that disclosing sexual violence is an ongoing—not singular—process that depends on a series of interactions at the individual, interpersonal and institutional levels of the ecosystem. Building better trauma‐informed responses is likely to help; however, a focus only on services falls short, especially in countries where child protection systems struggle to thrive. A concurrent transformative shift in both social and gender norms across the ecosystem is essential to address the seemingly intractable challenges to child sexual exploitation and abuse prevention and response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses findings from a qualitative study designed to evaluate the effectiveness of a Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) awareness-raising programme targeted at young people. Drawing on data from in-depth interviews with practitioners involved in a multi-agency team established to reduce vulnerability to CSE, we elucidate that, in addition to being directed by professional codes, practitioners' perceptions and judgements were also influenced by gendered assumptions and underlying anxieties about childhood sexuality. The empirical data presented suggest that attitudes towards young people and intervention decisions are partially steered by cultural values that connect not only to personal morals but also influence decisions made in conjunction with professional risk analytic frameworks. Our analysis indicates that broader investigation of the commingling of personal and professional values in safeguarding contexts is required, alongside the creation of protected spaces for professional reflection and dialogue amongst practitioners to support decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sexual abuse and dating violence are chronic problems for children and young people in out‐of‐home care. This study explored the impact of a prevention and response programme Power to Kids, which targets harmful sexual behaviour (HSB), child sexual exploitation (CSE) and dating violence (DV) for children and young people in home‐based (foster) care. Twenty‐eight case managers, 25 foster carers and 13 children and young people participated in a mixed methods study in Victoria, Australia informed by the research question: How does the Power to Kids programme impact the sexual health and safety of children and young people in home‐based (foster) care? The data analysis revealed a SAFETY approach whereby the sexual health and safety knowledge of carers and case managers was enhanced, and carers were given permission to have Brave Conversations with children and young people, who could then apply the new knowledge to their lives. Case managers were upskilled in identifying indicators of sexual abuse and empowered to escalate stalled therapeutic and disruption practice when children and young people were identified as experiencing HSB, CSE or DV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although children's social care is an area rich in guidance, there is very little research looking at the implementation of new policies in the United Kingdom. In this article, we report on the first stage of a realist evaluation of the implementation of the new Safeguarding Children from Child Sexual Exploitation guidance in Wales. We discuss the development of an initial programme theory, for which we conducted semi‐structured interviews with practitioners and managers in three local authorities. We developed programme theories across three areas: policy nature and development, implementation plans and organizational context. Findings suggest that, for policies to produce a significant impact on practice, they need to be sufficiently different to social workers' current perceptions of practice. Second, we found that the coordination between national and local policies is critical for successful implementation as contradictions between them might lead to confusion in what local teams should prioritize. Finally, our findings highlight the importance of effective communication of policy changes, as well as a supportive organizational culture to strengthen implementation in local contexts. These findings illustrate the complexity of policy implementation and the need for policymakers to consider the meaningful involvement of local practitioners in national policy development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children who are in residential care are especially vulnerable for becoming prey to child sexual exploitation due to a number of different factors they have experienced throughout their lives. Due to the changing nature of exploitation, it may be notoriously difficult to identify and intervene. In the past decade, new policy and literature examines risk assessment toolkits and intervention strategies that are helpful for those working directly with looked after children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Child sexual exploitation (CSE) is a problem for children and young people living in out‐of‐home care (looked after children). As part of a broader action research project aiming to prevent both harmful sexual behaviour carried out by children and young people and CSE in out‐of‐home care, four focus groups were undertaken with 17 workers at three Victorian residential houses in 2017. The findings reported in this paper were generated through the research question: What do workers perceive as the key challenges in caring for children and young people vulnerable to CSE in out‐of‐home care? Three major themes were identified: (i) children and young people going missing from home; (ii) children and young people not identifying as victims; and (iii) frontline police response unhelpful when children and young people missing. The design of prevention and response strategies to combat CSE must take into account the challenges identified by workers to ensure the best possible sexual abuse prevention outcomes for children and young people living in residential care. 'What do workers perceive as the key challenges in caring for children and young people vulnerable to CSE in out‐of‐home care?' Key Practitioner Messages: Children and young people need to be educated about the tactics used by perpetrators so that they can recognise if they are being groomed or exploited.Residential staff need to be upskilled about how to respond to children and young people at the point that they are leaving the house for the purpose of CSE.Workers need to be empowered to make decisions about the day‐to‐day welfare of the children and young people in their care.Multiagency collaboration is vital in preventing and responding to CSE, and efforts should be upscaled across all local government areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analysis of data from a two-year evaluation of the piloting of a child-centred framework for addressing child sexual exploitation (CSE) in England revealed an intrinsic practice dilemma, whereby many practitioners experienced profound ontological, ethical, emotional and intellectual dilemmas in reconciling young people's rights to voice, privacy and autonomy with their rights to safety, guidance and protection. 'No-win' scenarios left practitioners in a 'double-bind', whereby acting protectively might alienate a young person, paradoxically encouraging them to engage in further risky behaviours. An individual commitment to child-centred and participatory approaches, relational practice and reflective use of self was found to support professionals in exploring this tension with young people themselves, involving them as partners in reducing the risk of exploitation. However, practitioners will struggle to achieve this without manageable workloads, good supervision and organisational support for the emotional content of the work. Transformational learning is required across the disciplinary practice systems to achieve a more integrated practice of 'both/and' thinking and feeling. The tensions between protection and participation can then be surfaced in a way that is constructive rather than divisive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This contribution is co-authored by three members of the Young Researchers' Advisory Panel (YRAP) at the International Centre: Researching child sexual exploitation, violence and trafficking (IC) at the University of Bedfordshire, and supported by an academic researcher (Camille). The purpose of this paper is to reflect the group's discussions about the relationship between children's participation and protection, considered within the context of the group's role and work. Design/methodology/approach: A collaborative reflection piece co-produced through discussions between young research advisors and academic colleagues. Findings: This paper shows the young researchers' perspectives on the relationship between and interdependencies of child protection and child participation. Originality/value: A unique contribution capturing children and young people's perspectives on the journal's theme and other contributions to it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe a youth work model of participatory research practice which utilises a range of methods within non-traditional research settings, highlighting the importance of trust, risk-taking and the creation of mutually respectful and non-hierarchical relationships. The paper suggests that such methods enable the development of new insights into previously intractable challenges when working with adolescents needing a safeguarding response from professionals. Design/methodology/approach: The paper reflects on the challenges and successes of a project which brought police officers and young people together to develop solutions to improving safeguarding responses to young people affected by sexual violence and related forms of harm in adolescence. In particular, this paper focuses on a residential held in October 2016 in the Lake District involving 7 officers and 15 young people. Findings: Despite a number of ethical challenges throughout the project, this paper makes the case that potentially high-risk participatory research projects can be supported and managed by university research centres. However, for these to be successful, staff need to work in trauma-informed ways, and possess high-level expertise in group work facilitation. Transparency, honesty, constancy and a range of different and creative activities, including mental and physical challenges, all contributed to the success of the project. Originality/value: By detailing the empirical steps taken to develop, support and realise this project, this paper advances a youth work model of participatory research practice, filling an important gap within the methodological literature on participatory work with young people affected by sexual violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) has been acknowledged in the UK as a form of child sexual abuse (Department of Education, 2017). This article presents a composite case study undertaken within family therapy and children's social work based around some high‐risk CSE cases, using a variety of systemic ideas. The CSE case includes typical risks of abuse and exploitation, and the steps taken to understand and promote safety for the composite young person. The authors explore how CSE sits within the wider contexts of power and abuse in society. The article focuses particularly on first and second order change in CSE interventions, how we can systemically understand 'grooming', and how the LUUUUTT model can aid our practice. Practitioner points: It is essential to locate CSE in its wider contexts, including family, organisational and societal contextsIt is essential to understand the traps involved in the grooming process in CSEThe LUUUUTT model (stories Lived, Unknown, Untold, Unheard, Untellable, Told and storyTelling) can be helpful in guiding systemic conversations and disclosures by young peopleA more cohesive and coordinated multi‐agency approach to CSE is proposed [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports findings from a qualitative research inquiry into child sexual exploitation (CSE) involving young people with experiences of CSE. The paper considers how 'care'--understood as an act, an orientation and/or set of relations (including statutory responsibilities at the level of the local state)--featured as a recurrent theme across the data in respect of the ways in which participants made sense of the problem of CSE, why they were vulnerable and at risk, and the ways in which people should respond to such risks. Findings suggest that young people who are without care and recognition from protective adults, and who are not permitted as active agents insetting the terms of their own support, are vulnerable to CSE. Not only do adult care-giving and practices of child protection feature in participants' accounts as being part of the problem, but they suggest that the instigation of these practices, made as a response to CSE, can ignore and serve to compound that which they are attempting to prevent and disrupt. There is an urgent need for care responses to address the complex underlying issues behind CSE, and to open up the possibility of interventions beyond narrow child protection responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We provide detailed measurement of the illegal trade in child exploitation material (CEM, also known as child pornography) from mid-2011 through 2014 on five popular peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing networks. We characterize several observations: counts of peers trafficking in CEM; the proportion of arrested traffickers that were identified during the investigation as committing contact sexual offenses against children; trends in the trafficking of sexual images of sadistic acts and infants or toddlers; the relationship between such content and contact offenders; and survival rates of CEM. In the 5 P2P networks we examined, we estimate there were recently about 840,000 unique installations per month of P2P programs sharing CEM worldwide. We estimate that about 3 in 10,000 Internet users worldwide were sharing CEM in a given month; rates vary per country. We found an overall month-to-month decline in trafficking of CEM during our study. By surveying law enforcement we determined that 9.5% of persons arrested for P2P-based CEM trafficking on the studied networks were identified during the investigation as having sexually offended against children offline. Rates per network varied, ranging from 8% of arrests for CEM trafficking on Gnutella to 21% on BitTorrent. Within BitTorrent, where law enforcement applied their own measure of content severity, the rate of contact offenses among peers sharing the most-severe CEM (29%) was higher than those sharing the least-severe CEM (15%). Although the persistence of CEM on the networks varied, it generally survived for long periods of time; e.g., BitTorrent CEM had a survival rate near 100%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses two aspects of the regulatory conduct of Ofsted in protecting children from abuse by strangers. The first concerns the problems associated with child protection and safeguarding in the context of facilitating multicultural norms whereby certain social behaviours which would be unacceptable in one culture can be tolerated or condoned in another. The second aspect arises because, following Ofsted's failure to protect thousands of children from child abuse in many UK cities, children's social services' departments may have adopted strategic behaviour which may protect them rather than the children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues for a review of children's services responses to trafficked children. It draws on findings from research funded by the National Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC), which took place between 2006 and 2009 exploring practitioners' understandings of and responses to trafficked children and young people. Accompanied by an ongoing literature search, the project underwent three stages of data collection. Nine focus groups were run with a generic sample of practitioners from three locations in England. These were followed by interviews with practitioners who had detailed experience of working with trafficked children. A total of seventy-two practitioners took part in the focus groups and interviews. Finally, thirty-seven case studies of trafficked children were analysed. The findings explored in this article highlight variations in practitioners' understanding of the meaning of trafficking; problems with the delivery of child-centred practice; confusions about the distinction between ‘trafficking’ and ‘smuggling’; and the meaning of ‘internal’ trafficking. Despite excellent examples of service delivery, further training for child-care and law-enforcement practitioners is needed for them to be equipped to respond to the full range of needs of trafficked children and young people. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study examined how the police conceptualize juveniles involved in prostitution as victims of child sexual exploitation (CSE) or delinquents. Case files from six police agencies in major U.S. cities of 126 youth allegedly involved in prostitution, who were almost entirely girls, provided the data for this inquiry. This study found that 60% of youth in this sample were conceptualized as victims by the police and 40% as offenders. Logistic regression predicted the youths' culpability status as victims. The full model predicted 91% of youth's culpability status correctly and explained 67% of the variance in the youths' culpability status. The police considered youth with greater levels of cooperation, greater presence of identified exploiters, no prior record, and that came to their attention through a report more often as victims. In addition, the police may consider local youth more often as victims. It appears that the police use criminal charges as a paternalistic protective response to detain some of the youth treated as offenders, even though they considered these youth victims. Legislatively mandating this form of CSE as child abuse or adopting a ''secure care'' approach is needed to ensure these youth receive the necessary treatment and services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]