Muristek
‘We talked about grooming – I didn’t know what that was’: the charity protecting children from sexual exploitation and abuse
The Children’s Society has received 134 referrals of young people in the past six months alone, providing the kind of long-term intervention and support that statutory services can sometimes struggle to offer
Fifteen-year-old Leanne thought nothing of it when a man twice her age began chatting to her in the street after school, offering her cigarettes and alcohol. “I suppose it was a bit flattering, but I just thought: ‘Somebody’s offering me this stuff, it’s great,’” she recalls. “I felt: ‘Look at me, I’m getting all of this.’” It was only after their third meeting that she realised things were not as innocent as she thought: “He was very friendly at the start, but then things began to get quite sexual – he grabbed my leg and tried to kiss me,” remembers Leanne. “I wasn’t sure what was happening and I didn’t want anything bad to happen. I knew it wasn’t OK, but I felt trapped.” She decided the best option was to let the man, who was in his early 30s, “do whatever he wanted to do so that I could stay safe and get out of that situation”.
Leanne was too scared to tell her parents about the sexual abuse, afraid they would be angry with her. Instead she confided in a school friend who told a teacher and the police were called in. She was appointed a social worker and referred to a child sexual exploitation support service run by The Children’s Society charity. A support worker, provided by The Children’s Society, specially trained in trauma, provided one-to-one support and, crucially, the time Leanne needed to come to terms with what had happened to her and to stop blaming herself for the abuse.
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