The new chief executive of the UK’s largest children’s charity has warned that there may be hundreds of Scottish children at risk of sexual exploitation.
Anne Marie Carrie of Barnardo’s called on the Scottish Government to do more to tackle the problem and protect at-risk children. She said the charity worked with 1000 children who had been exploited last year but that may just be the tip of the iceberg.
Sexual exploitation occurs when an older man showers a younger girl, or boy, with affection in order to isolate them from friends and family.
Frequently the perpetrator will introduce alcohol or drugs to a relationship and may often turn violent. Once their victim is entirely dependent upon them they will demand they have sex with their friends.
More than 30 children were deemed to be at risk of sexual exploitation in Dundee in 2009 and it is believed that a highly organised network of criminals is behind the majority of cases.
Ms Carrie, who grew up in Easterhouse in Glasgow, used her first day in office at Barnardo’s to call for urgent action to protect the thousands of young girls and boys across the UK who are being preyed upon and then abused, raped and exploited for sex.
“I have a lifetime of experience working in children’s services but there is nothing more shocking than child sexual exploitation,” she said.
“These vulnerable, defenceless girls and boys, who crave love and attention, are groomed then abused in the most callous and calculated way, leaving them deeply traumatised and scarred for life.
“Although I thoroughly welcome the recent attention around the issue, the children at the heart of this callous crime have been forgotten as discussion has focused on the ethnicity of perpetrators in recent high-profile cases.”
Barnardo’s Scotland works with sexually exploited children and young people in Dundee, Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow.
Director of Barnardo’s Scotland Martin Crewe said, “We welcome the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre’s investigation into child sexual exploitation and urge ministers in Scotland to take this opportunity to make good their commitment in 2003 to commission research into the scope of the problem of sexual exploitation of children and young people in Scotland.
“The latest Scottish Government guidance on child sexual exploitation dates from 2003 and needs to be revised and refreshed to take account of developments since then.
“We know there are groups of children and young people, boys and girls, in Scotland who are being subjected to this heinous crime. But there is still a lot of work to do to expose the scale of the problem; to increase the awareness of sexual exploitation and offer more effective protection to vulnerable children and young people in Scotland.”