Virtual College collaborates with national charity to fight child sexual exploitation
A new report commissioned by IIkley based Virtual College’s Safeguarding Children e-Academy and Parents Against Child Sexual Exploitation (Pace) has revealed that parents’ lack of knowledge is severely hampering efforts to combat this pernicious form of abuse.
Last year it was estimated by the Children’s Commissioner that 16,500 children were at risk of sexual exploitation in the UK. A new report by YouGov commissioned by Ilkley based Virtual College’s Safeguarding Children e-Academy and Leeds based Parents Against Child Sexual Exploitation (Pace) has revealed that parents’ lack of knowledge is severely hampering efforts to combat this pernicious form of abuse.
The YouGov survey of 945 teachers, social workers and police officers has shown that a lack of parental education is hampering efforts to tackle child sexual exploitation. 62% also indicated that they didn’t think schools were doing enough to educate parents in spotting the signs of child sexual exploitation.
In response to the lack of easy access for parents to appropriate learning resources, Safeguarding Children e-Academy and leading child sexual exploitation charity, Pace, have released a free short online course called ‘Keep them Safe’. The course aims to equip parents and carers with the knowledge they need to recognise the signs of child sexual exploitation and who to contact if they have any suspicions.
A parent whose family has been affected by child sexual exploitation commented “I feel excited? that something like this is available and I only wish it was done years back. It is really good and imparts a lot of knowledge in a short time. The online course is very good at explaining not only the signs but what to do if you suspect it is happening. I think it is well structured and gives an excellent insight into child sexual exploitation.”
To access the free course visit http://www.safeguardingchildrenea.co.uk/safeguarding-news/keep-them-safe/