Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE)
Colchester City Council and its partner agencies are committed to working with the Essex Safeguarding Children Board to keep children safe from all forms of abuse and neglect.
Sunday 18 March is CSE Awareness Day and the Safer Colchester Partnership wants to play its full part in getting involved with this national campaign to raise awareness and help protect children.
The Campaign will involve:
Raising awareness of Online Child Sexual Abuse – including the issue of youth produced sexual imagery.
Children and young people are often the experts in navigating around the internet, and the online world is becoming increasingly available to them through the use of smart phones, varied and changing aps, online gaming and internet sites. A survey in Essex reported that above 80% of Year 6 pupils and 95% of Year 8 pupils reported that they had a mobile phone with access to the internet. The threat of abuse is a serious one, online abuse is present in over 60% of our investigations across Essex in respect of child sexual exploitation.
Working with a range of organisations across our communities during the week 18 March – 24 March in order to share messages including:
- Highlighting the risks to children from online threats
- Providing tips to parents on what they can do to help keep their child safe online.
- Providing advice to parents on what to do if they have concerns.
- Supporting children to use their mobiles and internet safely, responsibly and positively.
- Providing advice to children on what to do if they are worried about something they have seen or been asked to do online.
The Essex Safeguarding Children Board has included a range of additional information and resources on CSE.
In addition, check out the CSE Awareness Day Social Media Campaigns supporting these activities – run by Essex Police, ESCB and ECC by searching on their websites.
