Operation Makesafe- Humberside Police.

On Monday 18 March, Humberside Police launched their ‘Look Again’ child sexual and criminal exploitation campaign to align with Child Exploitation Awareness Day and the national initiative Operation Makesafe.

The campaign is focused around getting members of the public and local businesses to ‘Look again’ at some situations which, at first glance, may appear to be completely normal.

Do you notice something about someone’s relationship that might be unhealthy or inappropriate? Does someone appear to be acting more distant and showing signs of being controlled? Do you see the same group of teenagers regularly going missing or skipping school? There are many questions you can ask, and this campaign will help you spot the signs of exploitation in many different circumstances.

They’ve aligned the campaign with the national Operation Makesafe to focus on making sure that people working in specific business sectors are aware of the early warning signs of child exploitation, and then know how and what to report to the police.

Local and national evidence shows that child exploitation can take place in hotels, pubs, takeaways, places licensed to sell alcohol, and exploiters or those involved are also more likely to use taxi firms to travel to and from these different places.

Leading the campaign is Inspector Nathan Reuben from our Protecting Vulnerable People Unit responsible for the Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking, and Child Sexual Exploitation teams. He said: “It is vital that we raise awareness amongst key local businesses as well as members of the public so they can learn what to look out for, spot the signs, and ultimately help safeguard young people.

“We want to give our communities the confidence to report their concerns or suspicions to us, knowing that they will be taken seriously, and we will do everything we can to disrupt and deter potential exploiters, and prevent young people from being exploited in the first place.

“Child Sexual Exploitation is hard to identify because it often happens behind closed doors. Victims and suspects do not fit any particular stereotype, but there are indicators and behaviours that members of the public, professionals, family members or friends might spot.

“A child who is being exploited might not recognise themselves as a victim. They might go missing from home or education, or be attending hotels, unfamiliar locations, or making unusual journeys that are not explained. We are asking people to be curious about why someone might be missing from the place they should be.

“Some young people are often criminalised, and we want to use this campaign to highlight that there are young people in the Humberside area who are vulnerable victims and need safeguarding.  

“It is crucial that we work together with our partners and support networks to identify, disrupt, and remove the opportunity for potential perpetrators of both sexual and criminal exploiters to offend. We will do everything in our power to investigate, prosecute and seek justice for victims and their families.”

Child sexual exploitation involves situations, contexts, or relationships in which a person under 18 is given something, such as food, accommodation, drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, affection, gifts, or money in return for performing sexual activities or having sexual activities performed on them. It can also involve violence, coercion, and intimidation, with threats of physical harm or humiliation.

In all cases of child sexual exploitation, the person exploiting the child or young person can create the impression of authority over them in some form. This could be because of their age, gender, intellect, physical strength, or economic situation.

Sexual exploitation of children can start using technology, without them immediately realising. For example, they might be persuaded to post images on the internet or via mobile phone without immediate payment or personal gain.

Violence, coercion, and intimidation are common, and some perpetrators will take advantage of children with a particular vulnerability. A young person may feel as though they have no choice but to continue the relationship with the person exploiting them.

General warning signs

Signs of a child or young person being in an exploitative relationship can vary.

Some examples are:

• going missing from home or care
• physical injuries
• misuse of drugs or alcohol
• involvement in offending
• repeat sexually transmitted infections, pregnancies or terminations
• absenteeism from school
• deterioration in physical appearance
• evidence of online sexual bullying
• evidence of vulnerability on social networking sites
• emotional distance from family members
• receiving gifts from unknown sources
• recruiting others into exploitative situations
• poor mental health
• self-harming
• thinking about or attempting suicide