Protecting children from grooming is at the heart of training which Calderdale Council has arranged for staff and local communities.
The 12 sessions, called ‘Child Sexual Exploitation and Grooming – Know the facts, make a difference’ are being delivered by Together Against Grooming (TAG), a social enterprise run by volunteers.
TAG was set up to raise awareness of the issue of sexual exploitation of children and vulnerable young people. A TAG initiative led to over 500 mosques across the UK highlighting the issues around grooming at the Friday sermon in June 2013.
The training has been specifically developed for use with community groups across Calderdale. Each session teaches people about child sexual exploitation and grooming, helping them to identify when a child may be at risk; and then makes sure they know what to do if they suspect a child is being exploited.
Calderdale Council’s Cabinet Member for Communities, Cllr Steve Sweeney said:
“We’re working hard with the Police and our other partners to protect children from this horrendous crime. The best way for us to prevent further victims is to learn how to spot the signs and then act if you suspect that something is wrong. I’d urge everyone to find out more – we’re all responsible for keeping our children safe.”
Chair of TAG, Shabir Hussain said:
“People are very worried about recent cases which they’ve heard about in the news. By making sure people have the facts and know the signs of CSE and grooming, both on street and online, they’re then equipped to do something about it. We want to stamp out this behaviour, which is ruining lives and damaging our communities.”
To find out more about the signs of CSE visit the ‘Child Sexual Exploitation – Know the Signs’ section on the West Yorkshire Police website at :www.westyorkshire.police.uk/cse/onlineguides(external link)