Table Of ContentCritical Perspectives on Child Sexual Exploitation
and Related Trafficking
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Critical Perspectives on
Child Sexual Exploitation
and Related Trafficking
Edited by
Margaret Melrose
University of Bedfordshire, UK
and
Jenny Pearce
University of Bedfordshire, UK
Selection and editorial matter © Margaret Melrose and Jenny Pearce 2013
Individual chapters © their respective authors 2013
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this
publication may be made without written permission.
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save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the
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permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency,
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Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication
may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
The authors have asserted their rights to be identified as the authors of
this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published 2013 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN
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Contents
List of Table and Figures vii
Acknowledgements viii
Notes on Contributors ix
Introduction: Critical Perspectives on Child Sexual
Exploitation and Related Trafficking 1
Margaret Melrose and Jenny Pearce
1 Young People and Sexual Exploitation: A Critical
Discourse Analysis 9
Margaret Melrose
2 Drifting into Trouble: Sexual Exploitation and
Gang Affiliation 23
John Pitts
3 Something Old or Something New: Do Pre-Existing
Conceptualisations of Abuse Enable a Sufficient
Response to Abuse in Young People’s Relationships
and Peer Groups? 38
Carlene Firmin
4 A Social Model of ‘Abused Consent’ 52
Jenny Pearce
5 Looked After Young People and CSE: A View
from Northern Ireland 69
Helen Beckett
6 Young People, Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation:
A View from Scotland 83
Isabelle Brodie
7 Missing from Discourse: South Asian Young Women
and Sexual Exploitation 96
Nicola Sharp
v
vi Contents
8 Partners in Care? Sexually Exploited Young People’s
Inclusion and Exclusion from Decision Making
about Safeguarding 110
Camille Warrington
9 Constructs of Safety for Children in Care Affected
by Sexual Exploitation 125
Lucie Shuker
10 Intersections in ‘Trafficking’ and ‘Child Sexual
Exploitation’ Policy 139
Lorena Arocha
11 Trafficking of Children and Young People: ‘Community’
Knowledge and Understandings 153
Patricia Hynes
Concluding Thoughts 167
Jenny Pearce and Margaret Melrose
Bibliography 169
Index 192
List of Table and Figures
Table
2.1 Gun-enabled crime in Waltham Forest in 2007 26
Figures
3.1 A model for understanding peer-on-peer abuse and
exploitation 47
4.1 A social model of abused consent 68
9.1 M odel of safety for young people in care affected
by sexual exploitation 129
11.1 Country of origin and forms of exploitation of
children and young people in 2011 157
vii
Acknowledgements
Working on developing and completing this book has been exciting
and rewarding. We would like to thank Palgrave Macmillan for the
support they have provided in making this book happen. Our work
as joint editors to compile the final manuscript has made us appre-
ciate the fantastic depth and breadth of the emerging research and
literature on child sexual exploitation (CSE). Margaret Melrose has
taken an excellent lead on supporting authors throughout the pro-
cess of creating this book, and on leading most of the editing for the
final submission. Jenny Pearce and all authors pay a special thanks
to Margaret for taking this work forward. Jenny and Margaret both
want to offer a big thank you to all the authors who have worked on
chapters included in this book. It has been rewarding to work with
such committed and informed colleagues and to have the opportu-
nity to discuss content and to think through the implications of our
joint submissions for the longer term development of knowledge and
expertise on CSE. We are grateful to Mr. Kris McCann for compiling
the bibliography.
As editors working for a research institute that is promoting applied
social research, we are mindful that we and other authors rely heav-
ily on the work of colleagues engaged with CSE policy and practice
development. We want to thank all those engaged in developing and
delivering services to young people affected by CSE. Central to this
work is the engagement with young people themselves. We want to
acknowledge the work of all young people who have contributed
to informing practitioners, policy makers and academics about the
impact CSE can have on day-to-day life. We hope that in some way
this book will help to make a difference to those lives.
Margaret would especially like to acknowledge that, even though
absent, the presence of Leah and Harry Wilkins-McCann give her
inspiration to carry on with this work.
viii
Notes on Contributors
Dr Lorena Arocha joined the University of Bedfordshire in 2010.
She has conducted research on issues related to contemporary forms
of slavery and exploitation, including forced labour, bonded labour
or debt bondage, human trafficking and sexual exploitation, in a
variety of geographical contexts, including Europe, South Asia and
Africa. Her research focuses on examining how ‘new’ exploitative
practices are defined and how this then frames policy responses.
Dr Helen Beckett is a Research Fellow at The International Centre
for the Study of Sexually Exploited and Trafficked Young People at
the University of Bedfordshire. She has worked as a children’s rights
researcher for 15 years across the voluntary and statutory sectors
and more recently within academia. Her specialism includes sexual
exploitation, sexual violence and wider child protection concerns,
the implementation of children’s rights and the experiences of
looked after children and homeless youth.
Dr Isabelle Brodie is a Senior Research Fellow in the Department
of Applied Social Studies, University of Bedfordshire. Previously she
worked at the National Children’s Bureau and Birkbeck College.
Isabelle has published extensively on a range of issues regarding
vulnerable children and young people, often focusing on their
educational experiences. Recent projects have included work for
the Scottish Government, NSPCC and the Centre for Excellence in
Outcomes for Children and Young People (C4EO).
Carlene Firmin MBE is a professional doctorate student at the
University of Bedfordshire. She is currently the Principal Policy
Advisor and Head of the Secretariat for the Office of the Children’s
Commissioner’s Inquiry into child sexual exploitation gangs and
groups. For five years Carlene researched the impact of criminal
gangs on women and girls, at the charity Race on the Agenda, dur-
ing which time she authored the Female Voice in Violence reports.
Carlene also writes a monthly column in Society Guardian, and has
had papers published in academic books and journals. Carlene was
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