CSE - Home Office publish 'disruption toolkit'

CSE (Child Sex Exploitation) or the possibility of such is or can be a challenging area for the hospitality sector. We have been raising awareness of possible issues surrounding this for some time now and it is clear that it is an area attracting increasing attention from the authorities. There is an expectation that operators will have processes in place to identify possible CSE issues at premises with staff appropriately trained etc.  ‘Test purchasing’ is not unknown.

The Home Office have now published a ‘Child Exploitation disruption toolkit’ which can be found here: 'CHILD EXPLOITATION DISRUPTION TOOLKIT'

The toolkit is primarily aimed at frontline staff working to safeguard children and young people under the age of 18 from sexual and criminal exploitation. This includes law enforcement, social care, housing, education, the voluntary sector and related partner organisations.

It is intended to help all safeguarding partners to understand and access existing legislative opportunities at their disposal and to target specific risks, ranging from warning notices to offence charges and care orders. It states that ‘while criminal prosecution of child abuse perpetrators may represent the most desired outcome of law enforcement activity, it is not appropriate to leave the protection of vulnerable children and young people to the criminal justice process alone. The use of existing legislative powers, such as orders and injunctions, are an essential part of the safeguarding process and often a critical piece to any future actions’.

The toolkit aims to:

• set out many of the tools useful for police and other safeguarding professionals to disrupt the sexual and criminal exploitation of children and young people, break the cycle of abuse and send a signal to perpetrators about the consequences of their actions.
• help safeguarding partners know how their knowledge, expertise and information sharing could contribute to the protection of victims, evidence for further action, arrest and potential prosecution of offenders.
• provide useful guidance about technological options available to support interventions.