New campaign launched - can you help?

Officers have been visiting shops, pubs and hotels across Peterborough as part of a new campaign to raise awareness and encourage reporting of child sexual exploitation (CSE). Do you know what to look out for?

The new advertising campaign sees officers engage with and educate businesses across the city about the crime, which is a force priority alongside other offences related to child protection.

The campaign has been launched after concerns about recent incidents of CSE in Peterborough, with suspicions more may be going unreported.

Businesses across Peterborough will be displaying posters issued by the force highlighting signs of CSE in each setting (hotels, licensed premises and shops) and how to report concerns.

The posters include a QR code which, when scanned, directs people to the dedicated child protection page of the force website with more advice and information.

Alongside educating staff at pubs, shops and hotels it is also hoped the campaign will encourage members of the public to find out more about the signs to spot and what to look out for. 

Concerns can be raised via our web chat option or by calling us on 101. Always call 999 in an emergency.

Superintendent Neil Billany said: “Our poster campaign is just one of the communication methods we are using to try and target those who could help us tackle child sexual exploitation. This includes staff at businesses across the city, but the community also have an important role to play in being our eyes and ears.

“We need people to speak up if something doesn’t feel quite right and we hope our campaign messaging plays on people’s minds and encourages them to report their concerns to us, no matter how small or insignificant they may seem.

“People don’t need to be sure that a child is being exploited, but that one extra report to us could change or even save a life.”

What is CSE?

Child sexual exploitation involves situations, contexts or relationships in which a person under 18 is given something, for example 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 CSE, the person exploiting the child or young person is able to 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 through the use of 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.

What to look out for

Signs of a child or young person being in an exploitative relationship can vary. Some examples include:

• 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