28 June 2006
Tackling child sex abuse in the UK: Now children and young people have their say
Child sex abuse is one of the most horrific crimes and now the very targets of the perpetrators – children and young people from right across the UK – are being asked to step forward to help make a very real impact on this area of criminality.
The UK’s first dedicated organisation focused on child sex abuse – the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre – launched earlier this year, is asking for volunteers aged between 11 – 16 years to work with them in reaching out to children and young people with vital safety first messages.
Jim Gamble, Chief Executive of the CEOP Centre, takes up the theme:
The CEOP Centre is about delivering a holistic response to a crime that attacks victims – children and young people - during their most formative years. That is why we are learning from the lessons of the past and bringing together under one roof the investigative skills of specialist police officers with the expertise of children’s charities and UK industry.
Our aim is to eradicate child sex abuse and to recognise in particular the intrinsic link between the virtual world of the internet and the real world. That is to say that we recognise the benefits of the internet and the opportunities it opens up but also like any other public place, we also see the dangers it potentially hides and the reality that where children go then the child sex offender will follow.
But adults are in many ways the visitors when it comes to the internet. Children and young people are the natives. It is now such an integral part of their everyday lives – another member of the family if you like – and we have to hold our hands up and recognise that as adults we are not always best placed to talk to our children.
But talk to them we must. Fundamental to our work is raising awareness of the dangers amongst children and young people and to empower them to take the necessary safety steps so that they can enjoy the benefits with the freedom they deserve.
Helen Penn, CEOP’s lead education co-ordinator explains the role of the new CEOP Youth Panel:
Peer to peer communications is vital. It is a fact that sometimes the best way to get something done is for an adult to ask a child or teenager not to do it. That is reality. Similarly, how can we design awareness tools and know that we are talking the same language as the school playground, the same terminology as young people use when they are online, or indeed covering the areas that they are using day-in-day-out.
We can’t and we shouldn’t even try. That is why we are asking young people from across the UK to come forward and to work with us.
In particular, later this year we will be launching our first education programme – ThinkuKnow – that will provide both online and offline resources. We want young people to be part of that, to work with us, to help with the design, the layout, the content, the wording and the delivery.
Certainly we know from when we initially launched our online awareness site – www.thinkuknow.co.uk – that working with just four teenagers helped us on all those areas. Now we want to go that one step further. Open up a recognised and dedicated forum and begin full and meaningful engagement.
We know that focus groups or panels can sometimes be simple and empty rhetoric. Well our challenge is simple. This is an open and genuine offer to everyone in the UK between the ages of 11 – 16 – we need your help, we will recognise your help and with the right credentials you will have a role to play.
Together we will make a difference.
To find out more about the work of the CEOP Centre and to formally apply to be come a member of the new CEOP Youth Panel then visit www.ceop.gov.uk or www.thinkuknow.co.uk. All applicants must be between the ages of 11 – 16 and will need parental permission.
ENDS
Note to editors:
The CEOP Centre works in both online and offline environments and full information on all areas of work as well as online safety messages and access to online reporting can be found at www.ceop.gov.uk.
The CEOP Centre is affiliated to the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) and powers are derived from the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005. It is based in Pimlico, London with developing outreach channels to all areas of both domestic and international policing as well as industry and specialist support and educational faculties.
For further information and interview availability contact:
Clive Michel
Head of Communications and Public Affairs
07899 064 333