As parents gear up for six weeks of summer holidays shops, cafes and leisure sites are being asked to look out for the signs of Child Sexual or Criminal Exploitation.
Cornwall Council’s teams from Safer Cornwall and Safeguarding Children Partnership have been touring towns providing information and advice to members of the service and retail industries.
The work is being done as part of the ‘I didn’t know’ campaign a nationwide initiative to raise awareness of child exploitation and it will focus on how to spot the signs, how to report it and how to gain support.
Child exploitation is illegal activity by people who have some form of power or control over young people and who use that to exploit them. This could be through sexual exploitation as well as criminal exploitation such as using children and young people to move drugs around for adults.
Cabinet Member for Environment and Public Protection, Rob Nolan, said: ’Whilst the issue of child sexual and criminal exploitation has gained a higher profile, there is still much more work to be done. We hope that retailers will embrace this message and support this campaign, because they are in the right place to spot something which may be suspicious and that could save a young person from being exploited.’
For more information on visit: www.safercornwall.co.uk