Victim safeguarding and support Unfortunately, there have been a number of failures to keep young people safe, as explored in the recent serious case reviews by the Waltham Forest Safeguarding Children Board97 and the Oxfordshire Safeguarding Children Board98. Research has revealed that children and young people experience a range of responses from statutory agencies, with this postcode lottery being a result of the lack of consistent national and local safeguarding strategies and procedures in place.99 Although there are examples of best practice occurring throughout the UK, this is not being experienced by all children facing exploitation.100 The IASC also noted in their most recent report ‘the lack of adequate safeguarding interventions’101 for children facing CCE. This is in line with the Children’s Commissioner’s report in 2019 highlighting significant local level failings to identify children earlier who were at risk of exploitation, including monitoring young people’s links to drug dealing networks.102 A reason behind such a failure is the struggle of professionals to keep up with the scale and evolving context of CCE.103 The literature available highlights the need to focus on prevention, particularly providing a more geographically consistent response to all victims of CCE. The Children’s Society identifies that the support needs to be trauma-informed, acknowledging the long-term impact of exploitation on a child’s mental health and emotional wellbeing.104 Yet for this to be consistent and comprehensive throughout the UK, there is a need for increased funding and resources.
61
