On Friday the 15th of July Barnardo’s Cymru launched ‘I Never Spoke About It’… Supporting sexually exploited boys and young men in Wales.
The report, which is based on interviews with 42 professionals and practitioners working closely with vulnerable groups of boys across Wales, a focus group with young people, including four boys who had experienced CSE, and an in-depth interview with a male CSE survivor, describes how boys become vulnerable to sexual exploitation and the barriers they experience to acknowledging and disclosing their abuse. Headline findings include:
- Boys’ routes into sexual exploitation are complicated and difficult to identify, as they are often closely aligned to criminal behaviour and/or substance misuse.
- Gay, bisexual or questioning boys who are made vulnerable through discrimination within their homes and communities can be at risk of entering same-sex relationships which are exploitative.
- There is evidence that sexual stereotypes often play a part in the interpretation of boys’ behaviour, with negative behaviour being taken at face value and not explored, or understood, as a potential response to trauma, as is more likely to be the case with girls.
- CSE is currently viewed as an offence primarily affecting girls and young women, and this is a barrier to the identification of boys at risk of, or experiencing, CSE.
The report includes recommendations for policy and practice development.
Please follow this link to the report: http://bit.ly/2a3GVv6.
This post is also available in: Welsh
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