Article,
Safeguarding future generations: challenging and prosecuting perpetrators
Youth and Policy, 104 (June): 48--61 (2010)
Abstract
Child sexual exploitation is a neglected area of child abuse. This has a number of repercussions but,
in particular, means that methods of disrupting and prosecuting offenders are poorly developed.
This article considers why this might be, and looks at the resulting impact of such negligence
on young people at risk of sexual exploitation. It is based on findings from a scoping exercise
which explored ways in which local partnerships gather evidence of child sexual exploitation
and examines those findings in the context of contemporary research into experiences of children
and young people at risk. Attitudes to child sexual exploitation are explored and the wider policy
context considered to assess the potential for increased identification and an improved criminal
justice response.
