The sexual exploitation of children has dominated recent headlines, yet there has been little focus on the incredible work happening across the UK to combat abuse—or the fact that sexual exploitation does not end when a person turns 18.
At Changing Lives, we provide specialist support services for people aged 16 and above. Alarmingly, we have seen a sharp rise in referrals for young people at the critical “age of transition.” This increase highlights that exploitation knows no age limits and that, as statutory services begin to step back, young people are left particularly vulnerable at this pivotal stage in their lives.
Over the years, we have witnessed significant shifts in the landscape of sex work and sexual exploitation. Since 2006, we have supported on-street sex workers through community-based projects across the North East, Merseyside and Wolverhampton to name a few. However, the COVID-19 pandemic brought unprecedented challenges, lockdown restrictions forced many people previously engaged in on-street sex work to shift to online platforms. Financial pressures, such as furlough and income loss, led to a surge in women selling sex online to survive.
To adapt to these changes, our teams developed innovative approaches, resulting in the creation of the NETReach Project, funded by the Home Office Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) “What Works” Fund. Over the past 18 months, we have seen a continued increase in the use of adult service websites for selling sex. Through Netreach, we provide a three-tier support service for independent sex workers operating online, ensuring they have access to specialist assistance. Netreach Report.
In hotspot areas such as Merseyside, Wolverhampton, and the North East, we have observed a worrying increase in adverts on adult service websites, with over 1,000 adverts in some regions at any given time. We continue to build strong partnerships with other agencies, providing education on all aspects of exploitation and working collaboratively to tackle these challenges.
However, the situation is even more troubling. Our Netreach staff have identified an alarming number of individuals being exploited by organised crime groups (OCGs) via adult service websites. This includes an increase in the number of people trafficked into the UK by OCGs through organised immigration crime, with many forced into sex work upon arrival. To the untrained eye, it can be difficult to distinguish between an independent sex worker’s advert and one posted by someone under the control of traffickers. With extensive training and cutting-edge tools, our teams can effectively identify and safeguard these vulnerable individuals. We understand that many of the people that we support can also be victims of other exploitation forms that fall under the Modern Slavery Human trafficking umbrella and due to an increase in victim disclosures we are adapting our services to support victims and survivors of all aspects of exploitation.
In the past 12 months, we have provided safeguarding opportunities for victims, particularly women trafficked into the UK and forced into sex work. This has required us to adapt our approaches and collaborate extensively with multi-agency partners, including law enforcement. Together, we aim to develop a national best practice model for safeguarding visits to brothels and other high-risk environments.
Sarah Clarke, Violence Against Women & Girls Lead at Changing Lives had this to say:
“We will continue our work to support the most vulnerable in our society, offering tailored specialist support services for victims and survivors of exploitation, including exploring safe accommodation options which is often a barrier to victims/survivors leaving the exploitation they are experiencing.”
If you require support from our services, you can find out more information here.