More and more children are being sexually exploited, according to Childline’s annual report.
The service carried out 140 counselling sessions in the last year (2018/19) with children from Northern Ireland who have been sexually exploited – that’s a shocking 44% on the previous year.
In 60% of counselling sessions, young people from Northern Ireland were targeted online – through social media or video games – often by friends or people they know.
Most commonly children here received help from Childline because they had been tricked into sending naked images or videos of themselves or had been groomed by someone wanting to sexually exploit them.
In the total number of counselling sessions from Northern Ireland about sexual abuse (244) exploitation featured in more than half.
Childline says this figure would probably be higher as almost a fifth of children contacting the service across the UK about child sexual exploitation did not reveal where they were from.
Young people told Childline they received affection or gifts in exchange for performing sexual activities. Others were persuaded to share sexual images online, and then threatened that the images would be shared with friends or family.
The Department of Education should provide effective training to teachers building on the good work completed to date in developing guidance and a Relationships and Sexuality Education Hub to share resources for schools.
Training should ensure that teachers are comfortable teaching lessons about healthy relationships and consent; and supporting young people to get help from a trusted adult.
An 18-year-old girl revealed to Childline:
“When I was younger I kept going online to talk to people mainly because I felt so alone. Some older guys started chatting to me and I sent nude pictures and videos of myself to them. I got compliments and didn’t know how to say no. Most of them knew I was just 13 and some of them threatened to post the pictures online if I didn’t send more. I feel sick just thinking about it and feel so insecure about this all coming back to haunt me.”
Mairead Monds, Childline Service manager for Belfast, said they are hearing from young people every day who are being manipulated or blackmailed into carrying out sexual acts.
“For many this impacts on their mental health and leaves them feeling isolated from the people closest to them. Some turn to self-harm, alcohol or substance misuse as ways of coping with their experiences.
“Everyone must be prepared to confront this problem, from government right through to schools, parents, professionals, and us at Childline. The Department of Education should build on existing good practice and developments to ensure teachers are confident to teach Relationships and Sexuality Education and Childline needs more volunteers to make sure they can be there for every child who need our help, at all times of day and night,” she added.
