UK children at risk of exploitation due to cost of living crisis
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With the majority of families unable to afford holiday activities, a record number of youngsters in the UK are at risk of being sexually and criminally exploited this summer.
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Parents walk their children to school, in West London, Britain, March 20, 2020 (Reuters)
Six in ten parents will find it difficult to finance clubs, take time off work, or perform family activities over the six-week school vacation, according to a poll conducted by Barnardo's, the largest children's charity in the UK.
More than 5 million kids between the ages of 11 and 17 live in England and Wales, and experts worry that a sizeable portion of them are at "greater risk" of being exploited since they won't have adult supervision offline or online.
The cost of living crisis, according to a frontline Barnardo's employee, is keeping families in poverty and making kids more susceptible to gang violence.
"At the moment, the easiest way for the [young people I support] to get extra money to have a bit of food, hot water, put the electric on, is doing drug dealing," they said.
One adolescent described how, due to the absence of reliable guardians or parental supervision, he spent his formative years in a "trap house", a residence from which drug dealers operate.
"'Trap' is exactly the right word for it because that’s the reality – you’re trapped into a never-ending cycle," he said.
When he became 19, he said when people say that "this lifestyle can be horrific, it really is. You end up trusting no one and never feel truly safe."
One in ten respondents to a recent study of 1,191 parents and 729 kids between the ages of 11 and 17 said they were concerned about running into criminal gangs over the holiday season. The same percentage also expressed anxiety about not having a safe place to go to this summer in their neighborhood.
According to Jess Edwards, senior policy advisor for childhood harms at the organization, children frequently do not realize when they are being taken advantage of.
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"A seemingly simple offer of gifts, food, or drink at a time of need can quickly be leveraged by criminals into a cycle of debt or exploitation," Edwards added.
In order to ensure that no kid who has been exploited is left without specialized support, Barnardo's is urging the government to take prompt action on the matter and invest in programs.
Devastating budget cuts to youth services have also contributed, making free or inexpensive activities harder to find. 760 youth centers have closed since 2010, and councils' real spending on youth programs has decreased by more than 70%. Seven councils admitted that no funds had been allotted to youth services in 2020–21, erasing such funding totally in some regions.
According to the survey, more than half of the kids reportedly expressed worry about being bored and unoccupied over the summer vacation.
More youth clubs are needed, a young person stated, adding that they may help solve the problem. "That’s what we need. Youth clubs used to be sick [cool], and then one day they disappeared … they just want the kids to be on the street now," he added.
Exploitation threat can originate online
Due to the fact that seven out of ten children anticipate spending more time online over the holiday season, child protection specialists particularly stress the possibility of online exploitation.
The finding that roughly one in ten kids expected to meet up with someone they had first met online this summer is another cause for concern.
When another girl started using a free online chat website that allowed users to interact with strangers, she was only ten years old. The website matched users at random in one-on-one conversations where they could message in confidence without entering their personal information.
The abuse on her iPad and cellphone was discovered by her mother, Angela, several months later.
"I was ashamed and felt awful about the conversations I had," she admitted. "I also felt stuck and was afraid of getting into trouble."
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Police observed an increase in new types of exploitation during the epidemic, with children being groomed, recruited, and exploited on social media, in chat rooms, and on gaming platforms.
"Children are particularly at risk this summer. Through our frontline work, we know that the cost of living crisis is increasing the risks of child exploitation," said Lynn Perry, chief executive of Barnardo’s, which supported more than 6,000 youngsters last year through its child abuse services.
According to official statistics, at least 27,000 children in England are at risk of being exploited by organized crime gangs each year, with over 16,000 of those youngsters being sexually exploited.
"Child sexual abuse is a heinous crime, and all parts of the government are taking action to protect children and bring perpetrators to justice," as per a government spokesperson.
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