Monday 18 March is National Child Exploitation Awareness Day, which aims to highlight the issues surrounding child sexual and criminal exploitation, encouraging everyone to think, identify and speak out against abuse.
The Council and partners in Knowsley, including Merseyside Police, are continuing to raise awareness of this sensitive issue by informing, educating, and ultimately preventing this form of child abuse which can have devastating effects on the lives of victims and their families.
On Monday (18 March), Knowsley’s multi-agency Shield team (who work with children to protect them from being exploited as well as targeting offenders) will be raising awareness of the issue linking in with local transport companies across Knowsley, this will include taxi companies and putting posters up at train stations and bus stops around the signs of exploitation and signposting to Shield. Shield will also link in with post offices across Knowsley given reported rise in substances being sent via post.
Shield are coordinating other activities on the lead up and week of National Child Exploitation Awareness Day :
- Change Grow Live are delivering bitesize sessions on the drug ketamine to raise awareness to all of Knowsley children services due to the increase in young people using ketamine and the drug featuring within exploitation in Knowsley.
- Catch 22 are releasing a webinar on mental health and criminal exploitation.
- Shield will be delivering training to various partners, including Knowsley Primary Care and Local Policing.
- Shield are raising the awareness of exploitation via online platforms and social media due to the increase of young people being exploited via this model.
The signs of exploitation are:
- Regularly missing from home or school and staying out all night.
- Change in behaviour – becoming aggressive and disruptive or quiet and withdrawn.
- Change in physical appearance – new clothes, hair style, cuts and bruising or injuries.
- Unexplained gifts or new possessions such as clothes, jewellery, mobile phones or money that can’t be accounted for.
- Increase in mobile phone use or secretive use.
- Receiving free substances from others such as cannabis or other drugs.
- A significantly older ‘boyfriend’ or ‘friend’ or lots of new friends.
- Spending excessive amounts of time online or on their mobile and becoming increasingly secretive about this activity.
- Sudden involvement in criminal behaviour or increased offending.
- Sexual health problems.
If you have concerns about a child or young person in Knowsley, report it to Knowsley’s Multi-Agency Safeguarding on 0151 443 2600. Alternatively, you can call Merseyside Police on 101 (999 in an emergency) or Crimestoppers (anonymously) on 0800 555 111.