By Lynne Stewart

A DUNDEE-BASED support group has logged 100 cases of children from Tayside being sexually exploited in the past 12 months.

Eighteen And Under, which runs a national helpline, has also had calls from a similar number of victims from outside the region during that time.

Some children, including pre-teens, have reported being sold to strangers for sex, even by their own parents. Others say they have been forced to make pornographic videos.

Many have what one worker called “transient, chaotic lifestyles,” which means they rarely come to the attention of social workers or the police.

Anne Brown, volunteer co-ordinator with Eighteen And Under charity, said the exploitation of children was “big business,” with adults abusing them for their own financial gain or sexual gratification.

She said, “I talk to young people from all over and the problem is not just in Dundee. I could work with someone who may live in Dundee but young people will be transported. I have spoken to young people who have been going through to Glasgow.

“I have worked with 14 and 15-year-olds who have described graphic details of making a pornographic video and not just in front of the camera but behind-the-scenes as well. Now how does a 14 or 15-year-old know that?

“This is young people being abused and it involves a wide spectrum of ages from as young as 10.

“It is usually some member of their family who is using the child to make money and the child does not benefit in any way. Whether it is the person selling the child or the punters, they are sexually abusing a child.

“There is very good inter-agency working and it is only by working together that we can help these children. It can be very much a hidden problem but we do recognise the confidentiality issues which some organisations have.”

“It’s not just girls but boys also. Because of the stigma attached, how do they go forward and go to the police?

“For many young people, police are known to them as telling them to move on and this is not helping the police to build up a rapport with young people.

“Some police officers are fantastic but that is not the case throughout.

“Young people do not feel they can go to the police to tell them about something so intimate, which requires a lot of detail to make a statement.”

It could often be difficult for the support group’s own staff to work out exactly what had happened as some of the young people they dealt with only related the details of what they had been through piecemeal over time.

The Eighteen And Under organisation started 10 years ago as a charity for young people who had been raped and sexually abused. It now receives calls from children all over the UK through its free phone number.

Anne said, “We offer a confidential service and we are not part of an investigation. We are here to offer support to young people who are being exploited.

“If children were not being exploited in this way then why is there such a demand for the service we run? We wouldn’t get funding for it if there wasn’t a need.”

Sergeant Iain Glass, of Tayside police crime reduction unit, said working with other organisations and sharing information is the way forward to tackling the problem.

“I am involved in a multi-agency sub-group which works under the child protection committee and that involves NHS Tayside, The Corner, Barnardo’s and others,” he said.

Sgt Glass refused to be drawn on how widespread the problem is, as he described child exploitation as “very much a hidden problem.”

“There will be a number of children out there who are being abused and exploited in this way and victims find it very difficult to speak about it.

“Hopefully with the agencies working together we can tackle the problem,” he continued.

“I would tell any person to speak to an adult they trust, as there is help out there.

“Children’s safety is paramount but where there is information, if the police were to receive it we would be able to do something about it.

“There is very good inter-agency working and it is only by working together that we can help these children.

“It can be very much a hidden problem but we do recognise the confidentiality issues which some organisations have.”

The force also said there was little evidence of prostitution on the streets of Tayside, with only a handful of women “working sporadically” in Dundee.