Working together to protect young people in Surrey

Surrey County Council recently hosted a conference to raise awareness of child exploitation and abuse within Surrey. With partnership support from Surrey Police and the Surrey Safeguarding Children Partnership, the Safeguarding Adolescents to Tackle Child Exploitation Conference took place on 29 November 2019.

Delegates including social workers, schools, police and health practitioners, enjoyed insights from national experts such as Dr Carlene Firmin MBE, from the University of Bedfordshire, on Contextual Safeguarding and recognising the different forms of risks young people can face.  Kay Wallace from the National Working Group (NWG) talked about the disruption of abuse and how support for victims of exploitation has to be backed by multiagency disruption plans.

The conference highlighted the importance of listening to the lived experience of young people and their perspectives on the services they’ve come into contacted with. In a video, one young person shared their experience of getting help and what it’s like having to tell professionals about abuse and exploitation.