22.04.2013
The barriers in tackling the sexual exploitation of children are to be explored by the Scottish Parliament’s Public Petitions Committee.
The Committee is continuing its investigation into the effectiveness of current guidelines and practices in place to address and prevent the sexual exploitation of children. The Committee now wants to hear from those bodies working to tackle this important issue to help understand the difficulties which exist in relation to the identification, disruption and prosecution of the perpetrators of child sexual exploitation.
Committee Convener David Stewart MSP said:
“There are thousands of people across Scotland who work tirelessly to tackle the sexual exploitation of children and help support its victims.
“We want to hear from people on the front line about the barriers they face on a daily basis and about what more needs to be done to tackle and prevent this shameful abuse of children from across Scotland, including the emerging issue of online / social media abuse.”
Key questions which the Committee want address include:
- What barriers exist to identifying, disrupting or prosecuting child sexual exploitation (CSE) perpetrators? How might these be overcome?
- What difficulties exist around keeping looked-after children and young people (accommodated or at home) safe from CSE perpetrators?
- What barriers exist to combating perpetrators’ use of online / social media and how might these be overcome?
- What types of training is given or is needed in identifying, disrupting or prosecuting CSE perpetrators?
- What experience of examples of good practice can be identified as working to address the problem?
Background
The Committee launched its inquiry into the effectiveness of the practices and guidelines currently in place to tackle and prevent the sexual exploitation of children in March 2013.
The remit of the inquiry is to examine the nature and extent of child sexual exploitation in Scotland; in conjunction with relevant agencies and stakeholders to determine the most pertinent issues which need to be addressed; to examine the effectiveness of current measures aimed at tackling, preventing and disrupting child sexual exploitation; and to make recommendations on what needs to be done to improve the effectiveness of those measures.
The inquiry was launched following a petition (PE1393) from Barnardo’s and which calls on the Parliament to:
Urge the Scottish Government to (1) commission new research on the nature and scope of child sexual exploitation in Scotland; (2) report back on all action points set out in the 2003 Scottish Government guidance on Vulnerable Children and Young People Sexual Exploitation Through Prostitution; (3) review and develop dedicated Scottish Government guidelines on child sexual exploitation, updating the 2003 Scottish guidance and incorporating the relevant parts of the 2010 National Child Protection Guidelines.
The closing date for submissions is 31 May 2013.
More information on the Committee's inquiry can be found at:
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/CurrentCommittees/62349.aspx