Out of Mind, Out of Sight

Breaking down the barriers to understanding child sexual exploitation: Executive Summary

In January 2011, the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre announced it would carry out a thematic assessment of the phenomenon known as ‘localised grooming’. ‘Localised grooming’ has been the subject of considerable media attention, following the prosecutions of adult males for the grooming and sexual exploitation of children and young people in various towns and cities in the UK.
The purpose of the assessment was to establish whether it was possible to identify any patterns of offending, victimisation, or vulnerability and draw lessons for future action.
This thematic assessment was undertaken with four principle objectives:
Assess the size and scale of ‘localised grooming’ in proportion to the overall known picture of sexual exploitation of children in the UK.
Establish any patterns of offending profile or victim experience.
Assess the effectiveness of processes which might help identify such offending or potential victims.
Recommend action to be taken to reduce the risk in future, including any urgent action that becomes apparent.
This short report summarises the findings, conclusions and recommendations of the full assessment.