Child Criminal Exploitation
The Children’s Society has published a report looking at child criminal exploitation including county lines, whereby drug gangs use children to break into new markets. This report analyses what is meant by child criminal exploitation; current methods of exploitation; and how responses across national and local organisations could be made more effective. Recommendations include: that the law should be clarified to ensure that all children who are groomed, coerced and controlled into committing crime are recognised as victims of exploitation; statutory agencies should have access to appropriate resources to identify and support victims of child criminal exploitation; and data collection and recording around child criminal exploitation should be improved to ensure more accurate understanding of scale and prevalence and the effectiveness of interventions. The full report can be accessed at: https://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/sites/default/files/counting-lives-report.pdf