Content uploaded by Jessica Taylor
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Jessica Taylor on Nov 30, 2017
Content may be subject to copyright.
1
Eaton. J (2017)
The impact of child sexual exploitation training
on a whole police force: An evaluation of impact,
knowledge and attitudes
Safe and Sound Group
30th November 2017
Jessica Eaton
2
Eaton. J (2017)
Executive Summary
This study is one of the first to explore the impact of child sexual exploitation (CSE) training on an
entire police force which had not undertaken any CSE training before. There is a large industry which
sells CSE training to police forces and other statutory services all over the UK and British Isles – but it
is rare to find studies that evaluate how the training changes attitudes and knowledge of
professionals. It is also rare to find evaluations of training where professionals were tested before
any training took place to give an accurate baseline. With special thanks to Detective Inspector
Michelle McKillop who commissioned, supported and encouraged the critical evaluation of the
impact of CSE training on the entire Isle of Man police force.
Key findings include:
• Officers self-reported significant improvements in their knowledge of CSE and related topics
after one day of training.
• When officers were asked to describe a ‘typical CSE case’, the most common themes were
exchange, alcohol, drugs, female victims and care homes. A lot of the descriptions contained
victim blaming and ‘choice-making’ by the children. Even after training, this did not
significantly change.
• Officers performed significantly better on the items and knowledge tests after CSE training
but some items based in attitudes and biases were not easily changeable.
• One day of CSE training is unlikely to change beliefs and cultures which frame sexual abuse
victims negatively.
• Long term or pre- and post-training evaluation such as this one should be encouraged to
explore whether CSE training can change practice or improve responses to children – and
whether investment is being effectively utilised.
• Training in complex topics such as child sexual exploitation and abuse is important, but
short, one-off input is unlikely to significantly change beliefs or practice.
• Self-report measures in which professionals are asked whether their knowledge has
improved may not always be accurate when contrasted against free-text answers to
questions about topics and materials
3
Eaton. J (2017)
Introduction
In 2016 and 2017, Safe and Sound Group were commissioned by Isle of Man police force to train
every officer in the force in the topic of child sexual exploitation and to explore the impact this
training had on knowledge and attitudes towards CSE in the force. It is very rare to find an
opportunity to train a police force with no existing knowledge of CSE – as many police forces will
have received a wide variety of training and input on CSE over recent years. It is also relatively rare
to find a force in which the senior leaders had not only commissioned training for everyone but
encouraged research which aimed to consider impact and value of investment.
Child sexual exploitation has been the centre of a number of high profile cases, serious case reviews,
charitable organisations, government strategies and funding priorities for a number of years now.
The training of practitioners in the topic of CSE has increased year on year. Local authorities, police
forces, statutory health services, charities, licensing departments and even commercial enterprises
such as hotels, restaurants and nightclubs have been encouraged or even been required to
undertake CSE training.
However, there is limited research exploring whether the large investment into CSE training has any
long-lasting impact on the knowledge, attitudes and practice of those undertaking the training. In
wider research, there is conflicting evidence as to whether extra expertise, years of experience and
training in sexual violence makes practitioners better at their jobs (Sleath & Bull, 2012).
The latest findings from a longitudinal evaluation of the impact of CSE training of practitioners in
social care included a test of knowledge, attitudes and qualitative questions for social workers,
youth workers, managers, family support workers and CSE specialist workers on whether a
programme of training had any impact 6 months later found mixed results (Eaton, 2017). A positive
finding included a commitment to a reduction in victim blaming of children who had been sexually
exploited, which was found to have influenced the practitioners over 6 months after they had
received the training. However, there was still evidence of confusion surrounding the age of consent,
a tendency to shift the blame to the parents and carers of victims of CSE and a feeling of
powerlessness in which professionals felt that the training had changed the way they thought about
CSE, but they were unable to change the culture and practice in their teams or organisations.
There was ample evidence in this study that training of practitioners is not enough to change the
culture and practice of an entire organisation or authority – and some biases still remain, even after
thorough training. One example of this is the responses to subtle and overt questions about risk and
responsibility of children who are sexually exploited. Practitioners rejected statements that overtly
blamed children for being sexually exploited but endorsed statements that used common phrases
contained within CSE toolkits and practice guidance such as ‘Some children take risks and make poor
choices which lead to being sexually exploited’ (Eaton, 2017).
Whilst this area of research is still in its infancy, these early findings indicate that there are some
biases, stereotypes and practice cultures that cannot be unpicked in a few hours or a few days of
training. This is not to say that training is not valuable, as the overall levels of awareness and
understanding increased in both studies across both social care and policing. However, it may be
that long-held biases and conceptualisations of CSE may require more than training.
The current study sought to explore what impact a day of CSE training would have on police officers
who have not had any CSE training before, using a pre- and post-training knowledge and attitude
assessment method.
4
Eaton. J (2017)
Methodology
Recruitment
All officers were recruited using convenience sampling. Their force had commissioned training and
evaluation of knowledge and attitudes. All constables were asked to take part by the police force by
receiving an email written by the researcher explaining the purpose and nature of the research and
the training. Officers were given three weeks to complete the questionnaire to account for shift
patterns and workload. The response rate was 89%.
Ethical considerations
Due to the sensitive nature of the questions, all officers were able to remain completely anonymous
and were not asked for any identifiable personal data. Instead of leaving contact details, officers
were asked to make up a personal identifier pin code which they kept in case they would like to
withdraw their data or query anything. All officers were given full information and asked for
informed consent before taking part. The study was designed to be conducted online as a
questionnaire to maintain anonymity of officers.
Design
This study contains three parts:
Part 1 – Study to explore the knowledge and attitudes of a police force before they undertake any
CSE training
Part 2 – Delivery of CSE training to all police officers
Part 3 – Study to explore the knowledge and attitudes of a police force after they undertake CSE
training
Part 1 contained a series of multiple choice questions about previous training, roles and experience,
an agreement item matrix, a free text question which asked officers to describe a ‘typical’ CSE case
and a concluding section asking officers to rate their knowledge of topics related to CSE.
Each item (in the table below) was chosen to relate to common myths, misunderstandings, themes
from serious case reviews, attitudes, policies and practical approaches used in the field of CSE. Items
were checked by other professionals currently practicing in CSE for accuracy and were used in a
previous publication with social care professionals (Eaton, 2017).
5
Eaton. J (2017)
Table 2: Items used to test knowledge and attitudes of officers
Item
Rationale
CSE is a form of child sexual
abuse
As CSE has developed, it has become disconnected from CSA, to the point
where many professionals are taught that it is a different issue (Beckett
et al., 2017; RiP, 2017; Gladman and Heal; 2017)
Children can be sexually exploited
up to 18 years old
Due to the age of consent being 16 years old, there are many children
who are sexually exploited at 16 and 17 years old who do not get the
right protection or support from services (Pola and Baillie, 2015)
Boys are equally at risk from CSE
as girls
CSE, whilst a form of gender based violence, affects a considerable
number of boys, with some organisations arguing that boys are equally at
risk from CSE due to being a child (Blast Project, 2015; Cockbain et al.,
2015)
The most common age for
children to be exploited is 13
Due to media campaigns and resources, many professionals are under
the impression that CSE affects young teenagers. (RiP, 2017)
Most CSE perpetrators are Asian
males
Due to large cases in the UK, there is a strong stereotype that CSE is
committed by Pakistani men which is feeding racism (RiP, 2017)
Most cases of CSE are children in
care
CSE cases have featured children in local authority care, leading to media
and public thinking that this is a ‘care home’ issue (RiP, 2017)
Most CSE could be prevented
with better parenting methods
There is a significant amount of ‘parent blaming’ in the field of CSE, even
when parents are not abusive or colluding (Pace, 2014; 2016)
There are three main models of
CSE
There are many different organisations advocating for different ‘models’
of CSE, none of which are evidence based. (RiP, 2017)
A child can consent to sex at 14
years old
The sexual offences act clearly states that the age of consent is 16 but
due to the way the UK responds to children aged 13-15 having sex, many
professionals are confused about consent (SOA, 2003; Eaton, 2017)
It is illegal for two 15-year-old
children to have sex
The sexual offences act clearly states that the age of consent is 16 but
due to the way the UK responds to children aged 13-15 having sex, many
professionals are confused about consent (SOA, 2003; Eaton, 2017)
A child should be treated as such
until they are 18
A person is legally a child until they are 18 years old but are rarely seen as
such in the context of CSE (Pola and Baillie, 2015; RiP, 2017)
Children with additional needs
can be safeguarded from CSE up
to 25 years old
Children and young adults with additional needs continue to need
protection even after 18 years old but when children reach 18, a lot of
support is withdrawn (Franklin et al., 2016)
Once children reach the age of
consent, there is little we can do
to protect them from CSE
Many professionals struggle to get a response from law enforcement
agencies once victims of CSE turn 16 years old (Pola and Baillie, 2015; RiP,
2017)
Some children make bad choices
and take risks which lead to CSE
Common language used in CSE means that children are positioned as
taking risks or being a risk that leads to CSE (RiP, 2017)
Some children bring it on
themselves by the way they act
Characteristics, behaviours and actions of children are often seen as the
root cause of CSE (RiP, 2017)
Some parents are the reason
their kids get exploited
There is a significant amount of ‘parent blaming’ in the field of CSE, even
when parents are not abusive or colluding (PACE, 2014; 2016)
Placing children in care is the best
solution to CSE
An overly-used strategy when local authorities and police fail to protect
children from sex offenders is to remove children (RiP, 2017)
Online CSE is not as
psychologically damaging as
contact CSE
It has been found that professionals and systems in CSE do not prioritise
online sexual exploitation victims because it is not seen as ‘real harm’
(Palmer, 2015)
Children who are sexually abused
are likely to go on to be
perpetrators
This is a highly contested point with evidence both ways, however the
large majority of children who are abused do not become abusive or
perpetrators (RiP, 2017)
6
Eaton. J (2017)
Trafficking happens regularly in
CSE
There is a lack of understanding of domestic internal trafficking and the
concept of movement for the purposes of a sexual offence (HM
Government, 2011)
Some children consent to their
sexual exploitation
The concept of consent is often misused or misunderstood in CSE –
especially where professionals think the child is colluding (Pearce, 2015)
To be trafficked, the child must
be moved at least one mile
There is a lack of understanding of domestic internal trafficking and the
concept of movement for the purposes of a sexual offence (HM
Government, 2011)
Perpetrators of CSE usually have
a history of CSA
This is a highly contested point with evidence both ways, however the
large majority of children who are abused do not become abusive or
perpetrators (RiP, 2017)
Boys are often experimenting
with their sexuality when they
get abused
It is a common misconception that boys who are sexually exploited by
men must have been gay or experimenting with their sexuality rather
than being seen as victims of serious crime (Cockbain et al., 2015)
If children are exploited when
they go missing, it is their own
fault
Children who repeatedly go missing or run away can be perceived as the
problem rather than the missing being harm itself or a symptom of
serious harm occurring that they are running from (DfE, 2016)
Children are sexually exploited
because they want something,
and they know how to get it
Children can sometimes be seen as ‘streetwise’ or ‘knowledgeable’ –
seen as agents of the abuse who are ‘exploiting the adults’ – indeed even
some children feel this way (RiP, 2017; Pearce, 2015)
A child can never consent to
sexual exploitation
The concept of consent is often misused or misunderstood in CSE –
especially where professionals think the child is colluding (Pearce, 2015)
Children often make false
allegations of CSA/E
A common rape myth affecting women and children is that they often
make false allegations of sexual violence (Payne et al., 1999)
Police should not have to
respond to constant missing
episodes
Missing can sometimes be perceived as a nuisance call or a waste of time
for professionals, especially when children frequently go missing (DfE,
2016)
Care homes should take more
responsibility for finding missing
and trafficked children
Missing can sometimes be perceived as a nuisance call or a waste of time
for professionals, especially when children frequently go missing (DfE,
2016)
Girls who wear sexualised
clothing and have large social
networks are the most likely to
be sexually exploited
There are strong victim stereotypes in CSE; generally describing victims as
sexualised teenage girls posting images of themselves online to
thousands of people (RiP, 2017)
Boys are more likely to be pulled
into gangs and drugs than be
sexually exploited
There are strong gender stereotypes that cause the misinterpretation of
the experiences of boys – leading to boys being assessed for gangs and
drugs where girls are assessed as victims of exploitation (Cockbain et al.,
2017)
Children who get sexually
exploited are rarely ‘trouble
causers’
Victim stereotypes and previous serious case reviews have found that
children are often described as trouble causers or ‘known to
services/police’ (RiP, 2017)
Female sex offenders in CSE are
very rare
Females are rarely seen as sexually abusive or capable of child sexual
exploitation (Elliott, 1995)
7
Eaton. J (2017)
Part two of the study was the delivery of one day (8 hours) of CSE training by three highly trained
specialists in the field of CSE, working for Safe and Sound Group. The training course was CPD
accredited to an intermediate level and contained modules which covered:
• Definition of CSE and CSA
• Breaking down myths and stereotypes in CSE of victims and offenders
• Exploring the four models of CSE*
• Understanding vulnerabilities and indicators of CSE
• Exploring consent and grooming
• Understanding internal domestic trafficking and missing in CSE
• Looking at procedures, policies and CSE risk toolkits
• Safeguarding and disclosure from children
*At the time of training, four models were generally accepted and taught in CSE which was refuted a year later
by Eaton and Holmes (2017) who argued that the ‘models’ of CSE being used had no evidence base.
All trainers were prepared to deliver the training in the same way, but training content may have
differed slightly based on questions asked by delegates and answers given to exercises. Training was
delivered over an 8-hour period with 35 slides including 8 interactive exercises and debates. Training
was delivered over 15 days within three weeks.
Part two was an exact repeat of part one in an online questionnaire distributed to all officers who
completed the training course. Each officer was sent a link within 2 weeks of completing the training
and were asked to complete it within a week.
Results from Part 1 – Before training
Part 1 Participant data
All participants were recruited from one police force in the UK. The response rate was very high for
the first part of the study. 158 officers took part out of a maximum of 178 officers. The roles of the
officers varied but the majority were police constables. Of the 158 officers who responded, 65%
were male, 33% were female and 2% were transgender.
Participants were asked what CSE training they had undertaken before any training began for this
study. 89% reported that they had no prior training in CSE, 4% reported that they had attended a
CSE safeguarding training course and the remaining 7% reported that they had seen a presentation
about CSE or accessed external training which varied greatly.
Training levels were low, so participants were also asked about their experience of working in CSE.
50% of officers reported that they had never worked with a child affected by CSE, 18% of officers
reported that they had worked with 1-3 children affected by CSE during their career, 14% of officers
reported that they had worked with 3-10 children affected by CSE during their career and 2% of the
officers reported that working with children affected by CSE was their primary role function.
8
Eaton. J (2017)
Self-reported knowledge before training course
All 158 participants rated their knowledge of CSE, prevention methods, child protection,
prosecution, trafficking, CSE victims, CSE offenders and CSE indicator toolkits before attending any of
the training in this study. Most of the officers rated themselves ‘poor’ on every topic and none of the
officers rated themselves as ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ at this stage.
Table 1: Self-reported knowledge before training
Topic
Result
Knowledge of CSE overall
63% selected ‘poor’, 37% selected ‘adequate’
Knowledge of CSE prevention methods
69% selected ‘poor’, 31% selected ‘adequate’
Knowledge of child protection
65% selected ‘poor’, 35% selected ‘adequate’
Knowledge of prosecution in CSE
64% selected ‘poor’, 36% selected ‘adequate’
Knowledge of trafficking
79% selected ‘poor’, 21% selected ‘adequate’
Knowledge of CSE offenders
67% selected ‘poor’, 33% selected ‘adequate’
Knowledge of CSE victims
72% selected ‘poor’, 28% selected ‘adequate’
Knowledge of CSE indicator toolkits
77% selected ‘poor’, 23% selected ‘adequate’
The results, though very poor, were expected. The police force had commissioned the training and
the study because they had not yet had any training or evaluation of CSE knowledge in their force
and recognised that there would be large gaps in the knowledge and skills of officers. The
commission of training and evaluation was due to the poor levels of knowledge and skill already
recognised by the senior leadership of the force.
Describing a typical CSE case
Every officer was invited to complete a free-text question asking ‘Please describe a typical CSE case’
which was used to gather qualitative data on the existing understanding of officers about what a CSE
case was perceived to be. 104 officers answered this question and their answers were coded using
frequency of use based on keywords and phrases that were common in the data. The most common
themes were exchange, harm, grooming, violence, choice/blame, trouble causer, promiscuous,
alcohol/drugs, male perpetrator, care home, female victim, vulnerable and the answer of ‘there is no
typical CSE case’. However, 37.5% of respondents simply wrote that they didn’t know what a CSE
case was.
Chart 1: Themes from
officers descriptions of a
‘typical CSE case’ before
training
9
Eaton. J (2017)
The most common themes used in the descriptions were vulnerability, female victims, alcohol and
drugs and the concept of exchanging those items for sex. These answers provided by over a third of
the participants mirror the stereotypes and large reported cases of CSE all over the UK. Female
victims were explicitly mentioned by 32% of the participants with the remaining officers using the
word ‘children’. Only one officer spoke about boys. There was therefore a strong focus on young
girls who ‘offer’ sex in ‘exchange’ for drugs and alcohol with little mention of any other grooming
techniques or the prospect of intangible ‘exchanges’ such as affection, protection and belonging.
The least common themes were violence, harm and the child being a trouble causer. Violence was
only mentioned once in descriptions of CSE, harm was mentioned six times and the child being a
trouble causer was mentioned six times. There was a distinct lack of answers that contained an
understanding that CSE was a violent act that harmed children. Descriptions by officers (such as the
ones below) often contained strong stereotypes and described an element of choice by the child to
be sexually exploited.
“A female who in is care home, dressing in a sexual way and voluntarily performing sex acts on males
for drugs/alcohol/somewhere to stay or party”
“Performing sexual acts for money. Child in care or in a broken home where parents have significant
drink/drug problems and do not care for or provide a suitable environment for the child. The child
may have witnessed drink/drugs/ domestic violence and rebels in a number of ways. Isn’t supported
and then finds themselves in the situation of exploitation.”
“Female in care will perform sexual favours for men who promise to give them things such as alcohol
or drugs.”
Only 9 officers used this space to state that there was no typical CSE case and that any child could be
targeted and sexually exploited. Some answers lacked further detail but a small number of officers
simply wrote ‘There is no typical case of CSE, it could be any child.’
Knowledge and attitude items
All participants were asked to complete a batch of agreement scales on items relating to knowledge
about CSE as a crime, attitudes and perceptions of victims, attitudes and perceptions of offenders,
attitudes and perceptions of fault, blame and cause in CSE and policy, practice and protection of
children in CSE. For each item, officers could select their level of agreement, split into ‘strongly
agree, agree, neutral, disagree, strongly disagree, don’t know’. For the results below, both ‘strongly
agree’ and ‘agree’ are treated as agreement, ‘strongly disagree’ and ‘disagree’ are treated as
disagreement and ‘I don’t know’ is treated separately. Neutral was a rarely used option in this
questionnaire with most officers choosing another answer.
Knowledge about CSE as a crime
These items tested basic knowledge of CSE, to explore information already understood by officers.
Majority answers were so common in this section that those are the ones presented here.
• CSE is a form of child sexual abuse – 57% didn’t know
• Children can be sexually exploited up to 18 years old – 83% agreed
• There are three main models of CSE – 90% didn’t know
• A child can consent to sex at 14 years old – 84% disagreed
10
Eaton. J (2017)
• It is illegal for two 15-year-old children to have sex – 86% agreed
• Online CSE is not as psychologically damaging as contact CSE – 71% disagreed
• Trafficking happens regularly in CSE – 66% didn’t know
• To be trafficked, the child must be moved at least one mile – 70% didn’t know
Commentary
There were a number of items in this section that officers did not know the answer to, including
whether CSE was a form of child sexual abuse (57%), whether there were three models of CSE (90%),
whether trafficking happens regularly in CSE (66%) and whether there was a distance limit on how
far a child must be moved for it to be considered trafficking (70%). Positive responses included
officers who understood that children can be sexually exploited up to the age of 18 years old (83%),
disagreeing that children cannot consent to sex at 14 years old (84%), agreeing that it is illegal for
two 15-year-olds to have sex (86%) and disagreeing that online sexual exploitation is not as
psychologically damaging as contact CSE (71%). There were no statements in this section that reflect
a misunderstanding or concerning attitudes, just a lot of officers who felt they didn’t know the
answer to basic principles and points of law they could use to understand CSE.
Attitudes and perceptions of victims of CSE
• Boys are equally at risk from CSE as girls – 83% agreed
• The most common age for children to be exploited is 13 – 65% didn’t know
• Most cases of CSE are children in care – 40% didn’t know
• Boys are often experimenting with their sexuality when they get abused – 56% didn’t know
• Children often make false allegations of CSA/E – 37% didn’t know but 24% agreed
• Girls who wear sexualised clothing and have large social networks are the most likely to be
sexually exploited – 38% didn’t know
• Boys are more likely to be pulled into gangs and drugs than be sexually exploited – 50%
didn’t know
• Children who get sexually exploited are rarely just ‘trouble causers’ – 64% didn’t know and
31% disagreed
Commentary
In this section, the majority of the items (7 out of 8) were responded to with ‘I don’t know’ by most
officers. Officers reportedly did not know the answer to common ages of victims, whether most
cases of CSE are children in care, whether boys are experimenting with their sexuality when they get
abused, whether sexualised girls online were most likely to be abused, whether boys were more
likely to be affected by gangs and drugs than sexual exploitation and whether children who get
sexually exploited are ‘trouble causers’ (although 31% disagreed with this statement). One item
which resulted in divided opinion asked officers whether children often make false allegations of
child sexual abuse and exploitation. Whilst the most common answer chosen was ‘I don’t know’
(37%), 24% of the officers agreed with this statement, meaning that 61% of officers either didn’t
know the answer or agreed that children often make false allegations, leaving only a third of the
sample disagreeing with this statement. One statement resulted in a large majority agreement, that
boys are equally at risk of being sexually exploited as girls (83%).
11
Eaton. J (2017)
Attitudes and perceptions of offenders of CSE
• Most CSE perpetrators are Asian males – 55% didn’t know
• Children who are sexually abused are likely to go on to be perpetrators – 43% didn’t know
• Perpetrators of CSE usually have a history of CSA – 56% didn’t know
• Female sex offenders in CSE are very rare – 53% didn’t know
Commentary
The items in this section were also met with confusion, most of the officers didn’t not know the
answers to the statements or didn’t know how to respond. Over half of the officers reported that
they didn’t know whether most CSE perpetrators are Asian males, didn’t know whether children
who are sexually abused are likely to become perpetrators, didn’t know whether perpetrators of
child sexual exploitation have a history of sexual abuse and didn’t know whether female sex
offenders were rare. The rest of the responses were equally mixed across agree, disagree and
neutral, with ‘I don’t know’ being the most commonly selected answer for each item.
Attitudes and perceptions of fault, blame and cause in CSE
• Most CSE could be prevented with better parenting methods – equally split between agree
and disagree
• Some children make bad choices and take risks which lead to CSE – 70% agreed
• Some children bring it on themselves by the way they act – 85% disagreed
• Some parents are the reason their kids get exploited – 60% agreed
• Some children consent to their sexual exploitation – 39% disagreed, 33% agreed, 28% didn’t
know
• If children are exploited when they go missing, it is their own fault – 96% disagreed
• Children are sexually exploited because they want something, and they know how to get it –
45% agreed
• A child can never consent to sexual exploitation – 71% agreed
Commentary
This section revealed evidence of victim blaming attitudes towards children and parents, that
conflicted at times. The items were spread out across the questionnaire and not presented together
like in the block of text above. Some items were almost identical or were actually the same item but
with amended wording to look for subtle and overt victim blaming. Parents were blamed for the
sexual exploitation of their children with 60% agreeing that some parents are the reason that
someone else exploits their child but when officers were presented with a statement claiming that
CSE could be prevented with better parenting, it produced a split result. A third of officers agreed
that some children can consent to being sexually exploited and 28% didn’t know the answer, which
contrasted with the 71% of officers who then went on to agree that a child can never consent to
sexual exploitation.
Almost every officer disagreed with the statement that sought to explore whether it was the child’s
fault if they go missing and get sexually exploited. However, the most interesting contrasts come
from the answers to two particular items that were designed to look for subtle and overt victim
blaming of children. 85% of officers disagreed that children bring CSE upon themselves by the way
12
Eaton. J (2017)
they act but 75% of officers agreed that children make bad choices and take risks that lead to CSE.
What is interesting to note about this is that the first statement does not contain common language
used in CSE and policing but the second statement does. The answers to these items demonstrate
the complexity of language and bias in victim blaming.
Understanding of procedure, policy and child protection
• A child should be treated as such until they are 18 – 40% agreed but 32% disagreed
• Children and young people with additional needs can be safeguarded from CSE up to 25
years old – 70% didn’t know
• Placing children in care is the best solution to CSE – 67% disagreed
• Once children reach the age of consent, there is little we can do to protect them from CSE –
67% disagreed
• Police should not have to respond to constant missing episodes – 48% disagreed but 38%
agreed
• Care homes should take more responsibility for finding missing and trafficked children – 87%
agreed
Commentary
These items were concerned with more practical elements of CSE. There was a gap in knowledge
around how to safeguard young adults with additional needs with 70% of officers reporting that they
didn’t know whether they could be safeguarded from exploitation into adulthood. Officers were
almost split in their responses about whether a child should be treated as such until 18 years old
which may reflect cultural norms around how society believes adolescents should be treated with
40% agreeing that children should be treated as children until 18 years old and 32% disagreeing. The
majority of officers disagreed with the statement that once children reach the age of consent, there
is little we can do to protect them from sexual exploitation. The final three items reference care
homes. 67% of officers disagreed that placing children in care is the best solution to CSE. 87% of
officers agreed that care homes should take more responsibility for finding missing and trafficked
children despite this being an important part of the policing role. Finally, almost half of officers
disagreed that the police should not have to respond to repeat missing but this was met with 38% of
officers agreeing with this statement.
13
Eaton. J (2017)
Results from Part 2 – After training
Participants
There were 77 responses to the second questionnaire out of a possible of 158 (the number of people
who originally completed the first questionnaire and were therefore eligible to use their personal
identifier to complete the second questionnaire), representing a 49% response rate for part 2.
Of the 77 officers who responded, 44 were male (57%) and 33 were female (43%). Experience of
working with children affected by CSE varied, 47% of the officers reported that they had never
worked with a child affected by CSE, 21% had worked with 1-3 children affected by CSE, 31% had
worked with more than 3 children affected by CSE and 1% of the officers reported that working with
children affected by CSE was their primary role function.
Table 4: Self-reported knowledge after CSE training
Topics
Before training all
After training all
Knowledge of CSE overall
63% Poor
68% Good
Knowledge of CSE prevention methods and techniques
69% Poor
63% Good
Knowledge of child protection in CSE
65% Poor
61% Good
Knowledge of prosecution in CSE
64% Poor
40% Good, 34% Neutral
Knowledge of trafficking
79% Poor
46% Good, 46% Poor
Knowledge of CSE victims
72% Poor
72% Good
Knowledge of CSE offenders
67% Poor
72% Good
Knowledge of CSE indicators and assessment tools
77% Poor
61% Good
The change in self-reported knowledge after training is significant. Before training, the majority of
officers rated themselves as poor on every topic. After training, the majority of officers rated
themselves as ‘good’ on every topic except for prosecution and trafficking with produced mixed
results.
Describing a ‘typical CSE case’: after training
The officers repeated the exercise from part one in which they were asked to describe a ‘typical CSE
case’ again after they had completed training. The qualitative answers were coded in the same way
as in part one. The percentage of officers who reported that they did not know what a CSE case was
fell from 37.5% to 5%. The rest of the answers were very similar to the answers given in part one,
with an addition of two themes: missing and child abuse. Missing featured in 26% of answers after
training and child abuse featured in 6% of the answers.
14
Eaton. J (2017)
Chart 2: Themes from officer’s descriptions of a ‘typical CSE case’ after training
After training had been completed by officers, the most common theme was ‘exchange’ with 70% of
answers talking about children exchanging sex for items or needs. There was no mention of violence
in this set of answers but mention of harm (11%) increased after training and grooming remained
the same. Descriptions of female victims increased significantly from 31% to 53% but descriptions in
which the child was vulnerable reduced. Descriptions including the themes of male perpetrators,
alcohol, drugs and children in care increased sharply after training. The theme which measured
choice and victim blaming increased from 19% to 24% after training and the theme of promiscuity of
victims also increased by 4%.
Some examples of answers from officers after training are below:
‘A 16-year-old female who offers sexual acts in exchange for being driven around by a 20-year-old
male.’
‘CSE is a form of child abuse. A child sometimes will not see themselves as a victim.’
‘Female in care who voluntarily offers sexual acts in return for drugs and alcohol.’
‘There is no typical case.’
‘Young female who is in the care system goes regularly missing from home. Whilst missing, in order
to obtain drugs, she will perform sexual acts on men (both known and unknown to her) in order to
obtain the drugs she wants.’
15
Eaton. J (2017)
Knowledge and attitude items: After training
After training, all participants were asked to complete the batch of agreement scales on items
relating to knowledge and attitudes again.
Item
Before training
After training
Improved?
CSE is a form of child sexual abuse
57% didn’t know
66% disagreed
N
Children can be sexually exploited up to 18 years old
83% agreed
89% agreed
Y
Boys are equally at risk from CSE as girls
83% agreed
99% agreed
Y
The most common age for children to be exploited is 13
65% didn’t know
47% didn’t know
N
Most CSE perpetrators are Asian males
55% didn’t know
95% disagreed
Y
Most cases of CSE are children in care
40% didn’t know
65% disagreed
Y
Most CSE could be prevented with better parenting methods
Split answer
70% disagreed
Y
There are three main models of CSE
90% didn’t know
58% agreed
N
A child can consent to sex at 14 years old
84% disagreed
84% disagreed
-
It is illegal for two 15-year-old children to have sex
86% agreed
88% agreed
Y
A child should be treated as such until they are 18
40% agreed
81% agreed
Y
Children with additional needs can be safeguarded from CSE up to 25
years old
70% didn’t know
56% agreed
Y
Once children reach the age of consent, there is little we can do to
protect them from CSE
67% disagreed
84% disagreed
Y
Some children make bad choices and take risks which lead to CSE
70% agreed
88% agreed
N
Some children bring it on themselves by the way they act
85% disagreed
84% disagreed
-
Some parents are the reason their kids get exploited
60% agreed
47% agreed
Y
Placing children in care out of area is the best solution to CSE
67% disagreed
75% disagreed
Y
Online CSE is not as psychologically damaging as contact CSE
71% disagreed
96% disagreed
Y
Children who are sexually abused are likely to go on to be
perpetrators
43% didn’t know
59% disagreed
Y
Trafficking happens regularly in CSE
66% didn’t know
60% agreed
Y
Some children consent to their sexual exploitation
39% disagreed
61% disagreed
Y
To be trafficked, the child must be moved at least one mile
70% didn’t know
63% disagreed
Y
Perpetrators of CSE usually have a history of CSA
56% didn’t know
61% disagreed
Y
Boys are often experimenting with their sexuality when they get
abused
46% didn’t know
72% disagreed
Y
If children are exploited when they go missing, it is their own fault
96% disagreed
96% disagreed
-
Children are sexually exploited because they want something, and
they know how to get it
45% agreed
66% agreed
N
A child can never consent to sexual exploitation
71% agreed
89% agreed
Y
Children often make false allegations of CSA/E
37% didn’t know
60% disagreed
Y
Police should not have to respond to constant missing episodes
48% disagreed
65% disagreed
Y
Care homes should take more responsibility for finding missing and
trafficked children
87% disagreed
93% agreed
N
Girls who wear sexualised clothing and have large social networks are
the most likely to be sexually exploited
38% didn’t know
61% disagreed
Y
Boys are more likely to be pulled into gangs and drugs than be
sexually exploited
50% didn’t know
47% disagreed
Y
Children who get sexually exploited are rarely ‘trouble causers’
64% didn’t know
43% agreed
Y
Female sex offenders in CSE are very rare
53% didn’t know
65% disagreed
Y
16
Eaton. J (2017)
In this section, 34 items were tested. Of the 34 tested, 6 items resulted in worse knowledge or
attitudes after training, 3 items did not result in a change after training and 25 items resulted in
improved knowledge or attitudes in the majority of officers. This will be explored further in the
discussion.
Discussion of overall findings
This study has presented the first set of evidence about the impact of CSE training of a whole police
force who had not undertaken CSE training before. With mixed methods and an excellent response
rate to part one and a reasonable response rate to part two, the findings can be used to begin to add
to the understanding of the role of training in changing practice surrounding sexual abuse of children
and related topics.
The force began with a very low knowledge rate, something which they honestly admitted
throughout the force and led to the leadership investing in the training and evaluation. This low
knowledge was represented in every section of part one of the study with the majority of officers
rating their knowledge on all topics as poor, large proportions of the force being unable to answer
the agreement matrix items and a large proportion of the force reporting that they didn’t know what
a CSE case was in the question which asked them to describe a typical CSE case.
The training was delivered in as uniform way as possible for large groups of professional training and
feedback was excellent across the cohorts. Self-reported knowledge increased significantly across
the topics after the training had been completed and the majority of knowledge and attitude items
showed great improvements.
However, there were important findings which suggested that some attitudes, beliefs and biases are
very troublesome to deconstruct or change within one day of training. This was particularly evident
in the free-text question ‘describe a typical CSE case’ in which the descriptions changed only slightly
and improvements were not found. It was clear that CSE is not described or perceived as violence,
harm or child abuse by officers – even after training which clearly describes it as such. Exploitation of
children is strongly described as an exchange of drugs and alcohol for sex; a description that fails to
explain the extreme harm done to children by child sex offenders.
Victim blaming and child choice featured heavily throughout the items and free text answers – both
before and after training. This is likely to reflect larger societal cultures and beliefs about abuse that
the training was unable to affect in such a short space of time. There was evidence that overt victim
blaming statements were rejected but when victim blaming statements conformed to the language
and phrases used commonly in CSE practice, officers were likely to agree with them even when they
were similar in meaning to previous overt statements they had rejected as inaccurate. This requires
much more thought and reflects the concerns raised by RiP (2017) and Eaton (2017), that the field of
CSE has developed a unique language of ‘risk taking’ and ‘vulnerabilities that lead to CSE’ which
exonerate the offender and shift the focus on to the behaviours of the child.
There was a strong theme throughout the items and free text answers of blame and responsibility
being attributed to care homes and parents. Whether that was the way officers expected care
homes to find missing and trafficked children themselves, felt that they shouldn’t have to respond to
repeat missing children, felt that poor parenting led to children being sexually exploited by third
parties or the free-text answers that frequently cited children in care homes. Organisations such as
PACE (2014;2016) have been campaigning against the traditional view and child protection response
17
Eaton. J (2017)
to CSE, especially as it refocuses the CSE back within the parenting and family environment rather
than squarely with the offender who has abused the child.
There needs to be special consideration to the limitations of these findings, one being that the
culture of police forces differs across areas. The police force in this study is in a very unique position
of being on an Isle with different governmental structures and systems. It is quite reasonable to
suggest that some norms and some cultures are unique to the Isle of Man – and this might mean
that officers are only dealing with very specific types of cases (young girls from care homes, for
example) that would cause skewed results and confirmatory bias after years of only ever seeing the
same types of cases within a small force area. Indeed, the most common form of sexual exploitation
on the Isle of Man is exploitation that takes the form of ‘relationships’ with offenders who abuse
children – and the wider stereotype of ‘grooming gangs’ is reportedly not an issue in this force area.
It is also fair to say that the Isle of Man have not had the same opportunities and input into their CSE
responses as other forces in other areas of the British Isles, meaning that their responses may not be
easily extrapolated to other forces or areas.
Whilst the findings from this study were mixed but generally very positive in terms of the impact it
has had on the knowledge and attitudes of police officers, training may still hold considerable value
when evaluated and piloted carefully. There must be further evaluation of the longitudinal impact of
training on the workforce and a more sophisticated exploration of whether training courses and
awareness raising give enough information and depth to empower change and improve practice. A
good example of this from the current study is that officers all rated their knowledge as significantly
better than before the training, but the same officers did not change the way they described CSE
cases, despite the training course teaching them that CSE was a form of child abuse that caused
harm and was a form of extreme violence. This finding suggests that the simple evaluations of
training which ask professionals to rate their knowledge before and after CSE training may not be
accurate and may not reflect how the new self-reported knowledge has been processed or is going
to be used in practice.
The effort to improve practice and the service provided to children affected by CSE must be ongoing
and multi-faceted. Training and education of practitioners should contain strong anti-victim blaming
materials that continue to place the offender as the source of the problem and challenge any
underpinning language, practice, policies or assumptions that children, parents or carers are to
blame when a third party sexually abuses a child.
Further research is required in this vital topic area to help agencies and forces to understand the
impact of their investment into education and training of their practitioners and officers – and how
this investment in new knowledge translates into practice. It is common practice for authorities to
respond to emerging issues by rolling out half-day or full-day training on the topic; but current and
previous findings (Eaton, 2017) challenge the notion that a training course or awareness raising
session is enough to improve practice and change perspectives of professionals working with
children.
18
Eaton. J (2017)
Reference List
Ben-Porat, A. & Itzhaky, H. (2015) Burnout among trauma social workers: The contribution of
personal and environmental resources, Journal of Social Work, Vol 15(6) p.606-620, Sage
Publications
Brown, S., Brady, G. , Franklin, A. Bradley, L., Kerrigan, N., and Sealey C. (2016) Child Sexual Abuse
and Exploitation: Understanding risk and vulnerability. London, UK: Early Intervention Foundation.
CEOP (2011) Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Breaking down the barriers to understanding child sexual
exploitation
Cockbain, E., Ashley, M & Brayley, H. (2015) Immaterial Boys? A large-scale exploration of gender-
based differences in child sexual exploitation service users, Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and
Treatment, Sage Publications
Franklin, A., Raws, P. & Smeaton, E. (2016) Unprotected, Overprotected Practice Guide, Barnardos
Hill, A. (2006) Play therapy with sexually abused children: including parents in therapeutic play, Child
and Family Social Work, pp 316-324, Blackwell Publishing
Lerpiniere, J., Hawthorn, M., Smith, I., Connelly, G., Kendrick, A. & Walsh, V. (2013) The Sexual
Exploitation of Looked After Children in Scotland: A scoping study to inform methodology for
inspection, CELSIS
Ministry of Justice (2007) Criminal Proceedings Database
Ministry of Justice (2010) Criminal Proceedings Database
Moshman, D. (2011) Adolescents and their teenage brains, Human Development
NSPCC (2013) Vicarious trauma: the consequences of working with abuse, A NSPCC research briefing
Pearce, J (2013) ‘A social model of ‘abused consent’’ in Melrose, M. and Pearce, J. (eds) Critical
perspectives on child sexual exploitation and related trafficking London: Palgrave Macmillan
Pola, I. & Baillie, D. (2015) Old enough to know better: Why sexually exploited older teenagers are
being overlooked, The Children’s Society
