Southwark Council marks Child Sexual Exploitation Awareness Day

16 March 2018

Sunday 18 March is Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) Awareness Day which seeks to proactively encourage everyone to think, spot and speak out against child sexual exploitation.

Southwark Council, alongside key partners such as the police, aims to make sure we keep children safe by giving everyone the ideas, knowledge and confidence to take action and contact the authorities if they feel there is something inappropriate happening to a child or young person they know.

For two weeks around CSE Awareness Day, the council will be conducting a number of outreach activities across the borough with the aim of raising awareness of CSE. These activities include workshops with youth groups, parent, voluntary organisations and faith groups.  For parents, carers and youth workers the sessions will highlight key things to look out for when it comes to CSE.

The borough adopts a whole council approach to tackling CSE with staff members in various roles trained to recognise the signs of CSE. During the two weeks of activity, there will be workshops for council and non-council staff who work within Southwark parks so they can spot the signs of exploitation or grooming.

This outreach work is part of a co-ordinated effort to inform all sections of the Southwark community about what to watch out for and to be confident enough to report concerns. All of the council’s community work on exploitation is carried out alongside the police and specialist parts of the council such as social care and youth workers and people from health services. This means that the people we meet have a range of experts they can talk to. Our work also includes working with young people in order for them to recognise the signs and where they can access appropriate help and support.

Cllr Barrie Hargrove, Cabinet Member for Communities, Safety and Leisure, said: “Child sexual exploitation can occur in any part of the country, in any town or city and within any community. There can be no room for complacency when it comes to keeping children and young people safe”.

“In many cases of Child Sexual Exploitation children are forced to keep silent about what could be happening to them, so it is vital that the adults around them can take action to keep them safe. It is therefore a very important  to us as a council to arrange these workshops for various communities and sectors within Southwark, to equip adults and workers with the skills and knowledge they need.”

Although, the majority of the workshops have been arranged for specific audiences, there will be a community stall in The Blue market place on Southwark Road in Bermondsey between 10am and 4pm on Saturday 17 March which anyone can attend.

Page last updated: 16 March 2018