The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) has awarded funding to help survivors of child sexual exploitation (CSE). The financial aid will be shared between the University of Kent’s Centre for Child Protection (CCP) and Kent Police to collaborate and develop a pilot simulation training tool promoting trauma informed approaches (TIA). The tool will be used to support police officers in applying TIA with girls who have experienced sexual exploitation.
Young girls are the most frequently reported victims of violence against women and girls (VAWG; Jay et al 2022). This project aims to support these young girls by combining contemporary research with simulation learning – a proven innovative technology used by CCP for child protection training. Training simulations allow participants a safe setting to practice complex or challenging risk-taking and decision-making experiences – such as decisions made when managing victims of child sexual exploitation.
CCP has worked closely with numerous key child protection stakeholders, and it’s this experience which CCP will draw upon to develop the pilot training tool with Kent Police.
National Police records indicate that sexual crimes against children, and especially girls, are on the rise (Home Office 2022). Kent police are fully committed towards tackling VAWG, and they are recognised as an ‘exemplar force’ by the National Police Chiefs’ Council VAWG National Working Group. They work collaboratively with other forces to identify and share best practice in this field.
Kent Police are always seeking to improve. This is reflected in their Mission, Vision, Values and Priorities that provide the framework for everything they do. It is with this in mind, that they have developed an overarching VAWG strategy which seeks to draw together the activity being undertaken across the Force. Their approach strengthens the principles of the government’s VAWG strategy (September 2021) and is consistent with the National Policing Strategy and Delivery Framework for VAWG.
Speaking on the project, Tracee Green, Head of the Centre for Child Protection, said: “It’s an exciting opportunity to work in partnership with Kent Police on such an important child protection topic; to exchange knowledge and make a difference in the disruption of the child sexual exploitation of young girls.
“CCP’s continuing professional development portfolio has a history of tackling VAWG – but this will be the first time we have collaborated with Kent Police to address this. Securing ESRC funding has enabled us to start the project in November 2022 and we are seeing some promising and exciting developments already.”
Samantha Matthews, Child Centred Policing Manager for Kent Police, added “Tackling violence against women and girls and child centred policing are at the heart of our Kent Police strategy. This collaborative project reflects our priorities to keep the most vulnerable in society safe through offering innovative training to our Officers and using evidence-based practice to direct our approach in a meaningful, trauma informed way.”
The findings will contribute to developing knowledge on the facilitation of learning and application of TIA within child protection settings. In practice, the training will underpin how the police engage with girls who have a lived experience of CSE, ensuring they’re not retraumatised and that they feel able to engage with services to disrupt exploitation and prevent further harm.
Notes
Developing the pilot simulation training tool
- May–August 2022: exploration of knowledge and expertise around good practice, what works and challenges to TIA.
- November 2022–February 2023: ‘collaborative design’, for example, character creation, formulating learning outcomes, narrative of simulation and script development.
- March 2023–June 2023: creation of the pilot training tool, via Articulate Software. Plus the creation of complementary training materials.
- July 2023–October 2023: application of the pilot training tool, including training sessions and evaluations.
- November 2023 onwards: dissemination of key findings, including visions for future funding potential to create a full-scale simulation from the pilot training tool.
Centre for Child Protection: https://www.kent.ac.uk/social-policy-sociology-social-research/centre-for-child-protection
Kent Police: https://www.kent.police.uk/