Child Sexual Exploitation

Child sexual exploitation does not always involve physical contact: it can also occur through the use of technology. Like all forms of child sex abuse, child sexual exploitation:

• can affect any child or young person (male or female) under the age of 18 years, including 16 and 17 year olds who can legally consent to have sex;
• can still be abuse even if the sexual activity appears consensual;
• can include both contact (penetrative and non-penetrative acts) and non- contact sexual activity;
• can take place in person or via technology, or a combination of both;
• can involve force and/or enticement-based methods of compliance and may, or may not, be accompanied by violence or threats of violence;
• may occur without the child or young person’s immediate knowledge (e.g. through others copying videos or images they have created and posted on social media);
• can be perpetrated by individuals or groups, males or females, and children or adults. The abuse can be a one-off occurrence or a series of incidents over time, and range from opportunistic to complex organised abuse; and
• is typified by some form of power imbalance in favour of those perpetrating the abuse. Whilst age may be the most obvious, this power imbalance can also be due to a range of other factors including gender, sexual identity, cognitive ability, physical strength, status, and access to economic or other resources.