Warwickshire agencies raise awareness to battle child exploitation

The national fight against child exploitation will once again be supported by Warwickshire agencies on Child Exploitation Awareness Day this year (Tuesday 18 March).

Agencies including Warwickshire County Council (WCC), Warwickshire Police, Barnardo’s, Warwickshire NHS Integrated Care Board (ICB), Warwickshire Safeguarding Partnership Board and the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) in Warwickshire will be raising awareness with a range of online and offline activities.

Skipping school, being secretive when online and hanging out with older people are just some of the signs of child exploitation - and we all have a responsibility to spot them as hundreds of children and young people are exploited every year.

Child exploitation can manifest itself in different ways and this year’s awareness campaign in Warwickshire will focus on the way technology is negatively impacting on children and young people.

This could be, for example, through sextortion scams, peer-to-peer sharing of inappropriate images, the use of AI for the creation of deepfake images and videos, and the use of social media to groom children and young people.  

The links between knife crime, gang activity and other forms of child exploitation such as county lines drug dealing and other coerced criminal activity will also be highlighted, as well as the concerning use of vapes by perpetrators to facilitate exploitation and abuse.

Throughout the week commencing 17 March, Warwickshire agencies will be out and about raising awareness of forms of child exploitation with adults and young people.

Warwickshire residents are being asked to pledge to put a stop to child exploitation by learning how to recognise the signs and reporting it if they feel that something’s not right.

Schools and community young groups will be encouraged to educate young people, staff and volunteers about issues including peer and online exploitation, warning signs such as children not being in school, and the impact of exploitation on young people’s mental health.

Professionals working with young people in Warwickshire will have the opportunity to take part in a range of free online child exploitation awareness training throughout the week. For information and to book visit https://www.safeguardingwarwickshire.co.uk/images/CE_Week_2025_Online_training_schedule.pdf.

Everyone is encouraged to:

• Learn what the signs of child exploitation are
• Know where to go to report anything that’s not right
• Write a message of support for victims of exploitation on their hands and share it on social media using the hashtags #CEADay25 #HelpingHands #WarwickshireCE
• Share social media messages from WCC and partners across social media to spread awareness

Child exploitation signs to look out for in a child or young person include receiving expensive gifts and money, hanging out with older people, using drugs and drinking alcohol, mood swings, self-harming, going missing, staying out late, being secretive and skipping school to name a few.

As a Child Friendly county, Warwickshire is committed to creating safe environments where young people feel secure and protected from harm.

Where to go for help and support

• For information on how to spot the signs of child exploitation and advice visit https://www.somethingsnotright.co.uk.
• If you are worried about a child or young person, contact Family Connect between 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday, on 01926 414144.
• You can also make a report to Warwickshire Police via their website or by calling 101, or you can contact your local Children and Family Centre.
• Contact Crimestoppers confidentially and anonymously on 0800 555 111.
• Talk to trained counsellors on the 24-hour helplines run by ChildLine on 0800 11 11 and the NSPCC on 0808 800 5000
• If someone is in immediate danger, call the police on 999

Child exploitation is a crime that can impact any child or young person, anywhere, anytime and whatever their social or ethnic background or gender and Warwickshire agencies are urging us all to recognise, speak out against, and have a zero tolerance to all forms, including:

• Peer exploitation can happen when images and videos are shared around a young person’s peers via social media or online group chats. Young people may talk about sharing 'nudes', 'pics' or 'dick pics' and they may consent to sending a nude image.

However, they can also be forced, tricked or coerced into sharing images by other young people or adults online, and this may be for criminal exploitation purposes. Whether a child or young person shares an image consensually or not, they have no control over how other people might use or share it.

They may experience bullying or isolation if the image is shared around peer groups and perpetrators of abuse may circulate a nude image more widely and use this to blackmail a child – a practice called sextortion.

• A significant and growing threat comes from AI technology being exploited to produce child sexual abuse material. These realistic deepfake or partially synthetic videos are made by offenders using AI tools that add the face or likeness of a real person or victim. 

AI-generated child sexual abuse videos, primarily deepfakes, have previously been uploaded to the dark web but have now started circulating on the clear web, including on commercial websites. Perpetrators increasingly use fine-tuned AI models to generate new imagery, sometimes of known victims of child sexual abuse or famous children. 

• Sexual exploitation can start online and there are people who use the internet to groom by trawling social media and gaming sites looking for young people to target and exploit.

They might hide their true age, gender and identity and try to meet up with the young person face-to-face or encourage them to send sexual images or videos of themselves. They might offer gifts, game codes or flattering messages in return. Sometimes networks of offenders (grooming gangs) work together to groom young people in this way and then coerce or force them to have sex with multiple adults at organised parties.

• Increasingly, vapes are being used to attract, groom and exploit children and young people. Vaping-related exploitation involves criminals exploiting vulnerable children by giving them vapes in exchange for sexual activity with the abuser. The child or young person often does not recognise the coercive nature of the relationship and does not see themselves as a victim of exploitation.

There are also growing concerns that children and young people are unwittingly smoking drug-laced vapes. They can be spiked with spice, a synthetic street drug, and cause a wide range of dangerous side effects, including cardiac arrest. As spice is cheaper, it is sometimes substituted into vapes sold as containing cannabis oil.

• Knife crime impacts on families and communities and concerns about it are not just being felt by adults but also by children and young people themselves.

Knife crime amongst young people can be linked to gang activity and child criminal exploitation, a form of modern slavery that sees victims coerced, controlled, manipulated or deceived to work under the control of criminals in activities such as shoplifting, pickpocketing, bag snatching, ATM theft, acquisitive crime such as burglary and theft of vehicles/mopeds, or organised drug dealing (county lines).

Young people often carry knives as protection, fearing retribution from rival gangs or groups of exploiters. The biggest risk is that a young person may use a knife in situations where they feel the need to protect themselves, commit a crime, cause fear or reinforce their reputation.

Warwickshire County Councillor Sue Markham, Portfolio Holder for Children and Families, said:

“I urge everybody in Warwickshire to support this year’s Child Exploitation Awareness Day and discover more about the signs of child exploitation by taking notice of the awareness raising activities that will be happening during that week. It is another move in the right direction to better understanding and ultimately ending the exploitation of children and young people in all its forms, be it online or offline.

“Everyone has a responsibility to safeguard children and young people by recognising the signs of child exploitation and reporting it, so they can live safe and healthy lives.”

Warwickshire County Councillor Andy Crump, Portfolio Holder for Community Safety and Chair of the Safer Warwickshire Partnership Board, said:

“Child exploitation not only impacts on the safety of children and young people but also our wider communities across Warwickshire. This is highlighted by this year’s campaign, which raises awareness of the links between exploitation and knife crime, sextortion fraud and numerous other forms of criminal activity.

“I therefore encourage everyone to learn to spot the signs of child exploitation and, if you think something’s not right, please report it to keep our children, young people and communities safe in Warwickshire.”

Detective Superintendent Jill Fowler, Head of Public Protection at Warwickshire Police, said:

“Child exploitation takes many different forms and can happen to children of all ages and from all backgrounds. Abuse and exploitation cause immeasurable harm to children, and we are committed to tackling it and bringing those who exploit children to justice.

“During Child Exploitation Week we will be promoting the work going on across Warwickshire to protect children and encouraging the public to help us by being on the lookout for the signs of exploitation and reporting concerns.

“By working together, we can send a message to the perpetrators of abuse and exploitation that we are looking out for them and they are not welcome in Warwickshire.”

Police and Crime Commissioner for Warwickshire, Philip Seccombe, said:

“Exploitation affects some of the most vulnerable people in our society and is ever-changing. Everyone in Warwickshire needs to recognise the many forms these offences take, with the planned activities this week being a great opportunity to understand how we all play a role in spotting the signs and ensuring they know where support is available for the victims of these crimes.

“Police cannot tackle this issue alone. This is why it’s vitally important to work with partners to address it. This includes services which I commission, including Barnardo’s, who provide support to children and young people exploited across Warwickshire. Understanding the signs of exploitation helps us prevent these offences taking place, so we can ultimately build a safer Warwickshire for all.”

National Child Exploitation Awareness Day is a campaign established by NWG, a charitable organisation with a network of over 14,500 professionals working on the issue of child exploitation and trafficking within the UK. More information and resources can be found at https://nwgnetwork.org/national-child-exploitation-awareness-day-2025-ceaday25/.

This year’s campaign in Warwickshire amplifies the messages of the county’s Something’s Not Right campaign, a partnership initiative between Warwickshire County Council, Warwickshire Police, Barnardo’s and the Warwickshire Police and Crime Commissioner. Since its launch, the campaign has raised awareness in Warwickshire of all forms of child exploitation to encourage everyone to tackle the issue.