Lessons around child exploitation have been learnt in South Yorkshire but work needs to continue - Dr Alan Billings

I now look back over the past eight years and see just how much has been learnt in South Yorkshire, not only by the police and the local authority, but by all those organisations and agencies that have the care of children as part of their remit. I realised that what I was hearing from the speakers was what Professor Jay reported in reverse.

Jay showed our ignorance about what was happening to vulnerable children, principally girls. We did not understand the nature of grooming, what it was, how it worked, who was vulnerable, why these children were victims and not criminals, and so on. Jay exposed the failure of organisations to talk to one another, to share intelligence and information, to work together. Jay revealed how we failed to hear the voice of the child.

In contrast, those who spoke at the launch of this new campaign talked about the close working relationships between police, social workers and other professionals. They had learnt from Jay and Casey, they shared information, they talked to one another, they were often co-located, they listened to children, but above all they had recognised that the exploitation of children is something that is not defeated once and for all – because criminals are constantly changing their ways of operating and we must be aware of that and, where possible, keep ahead of it.

And it is not just about exploitation for sex. Child exploitation also includes exploitation for criminal purposes. One of the detectives, for example, spoke about the way drug dealers use children to transport drugs to other places (county lines) and the way they use girls who are already part of their gang, to lure their peers into the gang.

I was impressed by the level of knowledge and understanding in the room, the determination to be pro-active, and the recognition that as the nature of exploitation evolved, so must the response to it.

At the launch the speakers showed five posters designed to raise awareness of some of the critical ways in which child exploitation is changing. The overall theme was: Even the happiest childhood can be destroyed by exploitation.

Each poster had two photographs – one showing a happy childhood and a second illustrating how that could quickly change as a child or young person became ensnared by those intent on using them for their own criminal or sexual purposes.

Each poster also suggested how we might spot the signs that something was going wrong for a young person.

The launch challenged professionals to think about the changing nature of exploitation and what to look out for. But it will only succeed if that raised awareness is passed on to others. Look out for the posters and talk to your family and friends about what they are telling us. We need to be vigilant while not frightening ourselves silly.

A shortened version of the Police and Crime Commissioner for South Yorkshire’s latest blog post.