Child sexual exploitation
All children and young people should be kept safe and protected from abuse, neglect, harm and exploitation.
This is a right enshrined in legislation and all adults have a part to play in preventing children and young people from experiencing such harm.
Here you’ll find information and resources to help protect children, wherever you are in Scotland.
What is child sexual exploitation?
CSE is a form of child sexual abuse involving someone in a position of power forcing or enticing a young person under the age of 18 to take part in sexual activity in return for something – this could be money, gifts, accommodation, affection or status.
Like other forms of abuse, a child or young person could be unaware of what’s happening. Regardless of any notion of consent, it is child sexual abuse.
Sexual exploitation can take place in many different ways. It could be in person, online or a combination of both and can include children who are trafficked from within the UK or abroad.
CSE has a devastating and long lasting effect on children and young people. It often leads to a range of physical, mental and emotional health and wellbeing issues throughout their lives.
How you can help
We all have a part to play in preventing CSE. You can help by knowing what to look out for and by sharing your concerns about a child or young person. If you’re worried about a child or young person, please share your concerns.
We want to hear from you
If you have information and resources you’d like to share here, please email celcis@strath.ac.uk
Child sexual exploitation resources
National responses
National responses in Scotland to child sexual exploitation.
- Child sexual exploitation (CSE) Core Components Checklist for Child Protection Committees
- Child Protection Committees’ Processes and Practices in Relation to Child Sexual Exploitation
- National Action Plan to Prevent and Tackle Child Sexual Exploitation Progress Report
- Sexual exploitation of looked after children in Scotland
- CSE the Signs: Child Sexual Exploitation National Awareness Campaign
- Implications from Rotherham for Scotland
- The National Action Plan to Prevent and Tackle Child Sexual Exploitation
- Guidance: Child Sexual Exploitation: A Guide for Health Practitioners
- Child Sexual Exploitation Definition and Summary
- Child Sexual Exploitation: Definition and Practitioner Briefing Paper
- National Missing Persons Framework for Scotland
- Inter-agency Guidance for Child Trafficking: Child Trafficking Assessment National Referral Mechanism
Local responses
A range of child sexual exploitation resources in towns and cities across Scotland.
Discover Child Protection Committees where you are
Aberdeen City
- Aberdeen City Short Guide for Practitioners Identifying CSE
- Aberdeen City CSE Strategy and Extended Guide
- Scheme of Response to CSE
Aberdeenshire
Angus
Argyll and Bute
- CSE Practitioner Guidance
- CSE Screening Tool
- CSE Leaflet for parents and carers
- CSE Leaflet for children and young people
- CSE Postcard for Taxi and private hire drivers
- CSE Postcard for Hotel and accommodation providers
- CSE Postcard for licensed premises
- CSE training pathway
- Abuse and Trauma Service
Clackmannanshire and Stirling
- Forth Valley CSE Guidance
- Forth Valley Assessment Tool for Practitioners
- Forth Valley Vulnerability Checklist and Risk Matrix
Dundee
East Ayrshire
East Dunbartonshire
East Lothian and Midlothian
East Renfrewshire
Edinburgh
Fife
Highland
- Child Sexual Exploitation Briefing Paper
- Parenthood Framework
- Relationships Framework
- Sexual Health Framework
- VAW Framework
Inverclyde
- CSE leaflet for children and young people
- CSE leaflet for parents
- CSE leaflet for professionals
- Guidance on CSE: A Practitioners Resource Pack
- Responding to concerns about CSE – local protocol
- CSE Quality Assurance Framework
North Ayrshire
North Lanarkshire
Perth and Kinross
- CSE website
- CSE guide and toolkit
- CSE media information and advice
- CSE useful external links
- CSE Information for Parents & Carers
- CSE Information for Young People
- CSE Information for Taxi & Private Hire Drivers
- CSE Information for Licensed Premises
- CSE Information for Practitioners
- CSE Information for Hotels & Accommodation Providers
South Ayrshire
Western Isles
West Lothian
Resources
Resources and organisations which support effective responses to child sexual exploitation, plus support for those directly affected by child sexual exploitation.
Online resources
- CSE The Signs
- Safeguarding - Child Sexual Exploitation
- Community Care: CSE knowledge and practice hub
- The UK National Working Group for Sexually Exploited Children and Young People
- My Dangerous Loverboy
- Not in our community
Films
- CSE Snapchat story – Bad Romance
- Barnardo's Cut Them Free Appeal
- Know The Signs
- Losing Control: JAY - a story about sexual exploitation | ChildLine
- YouTube - Anybody's child
- ITV - Thousands of children sexually exploited by gangs
- Deputy Children's Commissioner, Sue Berelowitz
- YouTube THISTLE FILM
- Child Sexual Exploitation - The Parent's View
- Thorn - The Intersection of Child Sexual Exploitation and Technology
Nightwatch materials
County lines
Cuckooing
Research and reports
Some key research and reports relating to child sexual exploitation are listed below.
- Sexual exploitation of children involved in the Children’s Hearings System: report from the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration and Barnardo’s Scotland
- Preventing and responding to child sexual exploitation: evidence from inspections of care services for children and young people
- Child Protection Committees’ Processes and Practices in Relation to Child Sexual Exploitation
- Child Protection Committees’ processes and practices in relation to Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse: description of self-evaluations
- The right to recover: Provision of therapeutic services in the West of Scotland for children and young people following sexual abuse
- National Child Sexual Exploitation Workshops Evaluation Report
- Building a Bridge of Trust: The Role of Peer Education in Tackling Child Sexual Exploitation
- Digital dangers: The impact of technology on the sexual abuse and exploitation of children and young people
- Old enough to know better? Why sexually exploited teenagers are being overlooked
- Unprotected, overprotected: meeting the needs of young people with learning disabilities who experience, or are at risk of, sexual exploitation
- Sexual Exploitation of Vulnerable Young People Looked After and Accommodated in Glasgow
- Hidden in plain sight: A scoping study into the sexual exploitation of boys and young men in the UK
- The Sexual Exploitation of Looked After Children in Scotland
- What’s Going On To Safeguard Children and Young People from Sexual Exploitation
- Running from Hate To What You Think Is Love
- Responding to Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation in the Night-time Economy
