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Safeguarding
Key safeguarding information and support is outlined below. Should you have any further questions or queries, please do get in touch with the Safeguarding Lead at the Academy.
Sexual harm and Criminal exploitation
A child is sexually abused if they are persuaded or forced into taking part in sexual activities.
This doesn’t have to be physically as sexual abuse can also take place online.
- Contact sexual abuse involves ‘touching activities’ where the abuser makes physical contact with the child.
- Non-contact sexual abuse involves grooming, exploitation and persuading children to perform sexual acts over the internet.
Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE)
CSE is when a young person is used by being made or tricked into doing something sexual, sometimes receiving something in return like love, affection, gifts, money, drugs or alcohol.
Sexual Abuse
Sexual abuse includes any sexual act to which the vulnerable adult has not consented and may not understand. For example, being touched or kissed when it is not wanted, being made to touch or kiss someone else, being raped, being made to listen to sexual comments or forced to look at sexual acts or materials.
What does Sexual Abuse look like?
- Bruising, particularly to the thighs, buttocks and upper arms and marks on the neck
- Torn, stained or bloody underclothing
- Bleeding, pain or itching in the genital area
- Unusual difficulty in walking or sitting
- Foreign bodies in genital or rectal openings
- Infections, unexplained genital discharge, or sexually transmitted diseases
- Pregnancy in a woman who is unable to consent to sexual intercourse
- The uncharacteristic use of explicit sexual language or significant changes in sexual behaviour or attitude
- Incontinence not related to any medical diagnosis
- Self-harming
- Poor concentration, withdrawal, sleep disturbance
- Excessive fear/apprehension of, or withdrawal from, relationships
- Fear of receiving help with personal care
- Reluctance to be alone with a particular person
Reporting sexual harm and exploitation
Abuse from Adults
Anyone that suspects another professional or adult of abuse or neglect has a duty to refer it to the relevant employer or safeguarding agency to be investigated.
Further Information, advice and guidance
Related Websites
Criminal exploitation
County lines is the police term for urban gangs supplying drugs to suburban areas and market and coastal towns using dedicated mobile phone lines or “deal lines”. It involves child criminal exploitation (CCE) as gangs use children and vulnerable people to move drugs and money. Gangs establish a base in the market location, typically by taking over the homes of local vulnerable adults by force or coercion in a practice referred to as ‘cuckooing’.
Child Criminal Exploitation
A young person’s involvement in county lines activity often leaves signs. A young person might exhibit some of these signs, either as a member or as an associate of a gang dealing drugs. Any sudden changes in a young person’s lifestyle should be discussed with them. Some indicators of county lines involvement and exploitation are listed below, with those at the top of particular concern:
- Persistently going missing from school or home and / or being found out-of-area;
- Unexplained acquisition of money, clothes, or mobile phones
- Excessive receipt of texts / phone calls
- Relationships with controlling / older individuals or groups
- Leaving home / care without explanation
- Suspicion of physical assault / unexplained injuries
- Parental concerns
- Carrying weapons
- Significant decline in school results / performance
- Gang association or isolation from peers or social networks
- Self-harm or significant changes in emotional well-being
Cuckooing
Cuckooing is a tactic typically used by drug gangs seeking to expand their operations beyond the reaches of their home turf. It involves taking over the homes of vulnerable people, such as drug users, people with mental health issues or drink problems and sex workers – forcing them to let someone live with them and effectively taking over their home to use as a base of operations for drug supply.
Reporting Criminal Exploitation
If you believe a person is at immediate risk of harm, you should contact the police.
Anyone that suspects another professional or adult of abuse or neglect has a duty to refer it to the relevant employer or safeguarding agency to be investigated.