Following an independent inquiry into child sexual exploitation in the English town of Rotherham, Prof Alexis Jay, a former chief inspector of social work and active member of the European Social Network (ESN), has written a report outlining serious child protection failures and lessons to be learned for the child protection system not only in the UK, but across Europe.
The investigation led by Ms Jay, published on 26 August, concluded that from 1997 to 2013, blatant failures of political and police leadership contributed to the sexual exploitation of an estimated 1,400 children. Despite social workers highlighting the evidence on numerous occasions, police and senior council officials failed to act.
The report recommends senior managers to ensure up-to-date risk assessments on all children that may be affected by sexual exploitation; it highlights, as ESN has done on numerous occasions (see our analysis of the European Recommendation Investing in Children), the vulnerability of children placed in care, for whom good quality child focussed assessments accounting for individual vulnerabilities are key. This is a national issue across all European countries.
The enquiry emphasises the importance of multiagency work across local authorities, social services, health services and the police. As previously highlighted by ESN (in our position paper on Child Poverty and Wellbeing in Europe), a coordinated approach to tackling any form of child abuse ensures all key agencies can more quickly identify risk and provide a multi-agency response. The report also documents the need to review social care resources available for child protection and make them consistent with needs so that all affected children receive proper long-term support.
“The extent of child sexual abuse is underestimated; changing attitudes within the police is key to help victims come forward, as it is effective multi-agency work in order to prevent abuse and provide victims with the right support”, highlights Ms Jay.
Alexis Jay has made important contributions to the European Social Network’s (ESN) work over the past nine years, representing ESN at various events and consultations, including the stakeholder consultation with the European Commission and Member States representatives on the European Recommendation Investing in Children in 2013.
ESN would like to thank Alexis for her involvement in our work over the past years and for her investigation outlining the important lessons to be learned for all working in child protection in terms of risk assessments, the specific vulnerability of children in care, the need for appropriate quality care and support, and effective multi-agency work.