It warns “there is little recognition in policy and guidance of increased vulnerability and risk of being coerced and exploited” among this group of children.
The research involved the views of parents, social workers, police and youth justice workers as well as children’s mental health professionals. Researchers also analysed relevant law, policy and guidance to identify gaps in knowledge around SEND and the risk of exploitation.
Anecdotal evidence from those spoken to suggests “a high proportion” of the 7,432 potentially exploited young people in 2023 were children with a SEND.
Often this abuse “amounts to modern slavery”, they warn, adding that “despite parents’ desperate efforts to get support when exploitation is discovered” families receive little support".
Too often the “relationship between SEND and exploitation is inadequately understood, recognised, recorded and monitored between and within agencies”, found the research.
This results in opportunities to prevent exploitation “being missed because professionals often do not have the sufficient time, support or awareness of both SEND and exploitation to intervene”.
It also heightens the risk of family crises, such as suicide attempts by children, self-harm, enforced house moves and young people being placed away from their home.
“Many families are living in fear of violence and with intense levels of stress, sometimes leading to family breakdown, and siblings experiencing trauma,” states the report, by academics at Manchester Metropolitan and Portsmouth universities and funded by the Modern Slavery and Human Rights Policy and Evidence Centre.
“These failings are reportedly due to the absence of a national prevention strategy, adequate funding and relevant training for frontline workers,” researchers add.
NEW RESEARCH! Children with special education needs and disabilities (SEND) at risk of criminal and sexual exploitation due to gaps in policies and guidance.
— Modern Slavery PEC (@SlaveryPEC) July 16, 2024
Thread: pic.twitter.com/j3xL7zkEOe
“If this [exploitation] had been addressed when she was 14...we might not be where we are now,” said one parent involved in the research.
“But now I'm left with an 18-year-old who regularly self-harms...uses substances. It's just a real massive challenge that didn't really need to be there.”
Another parent described how their son “had felt rubbish for so many years” which made him an easy target for exploitation.
“They [the exploiters] made him feel really good, and he was like…’somebody appreciates me, someone gets me, someone understands me’,” said the parent.
The Department for Education is being urged by researchers to commission and publish multi-agency practice guidance to replace “out of date” advice currently being used from 2009. This would consider latest evidence, updated guidance relating to modern slavery as well as duties in the 2010 Equality Act.
The Home Office should also work with the DfE to introduce mandatory training for multi-agency teams around modern slavery and SEND.
Safeguarding Children with SEND champions should also be recruited by local safeguarding partnerships to audit and review modern slavery training and prevention work with children with SEND.
Information sharing to better understand concerns around SEND and safeguarding is also needed.
“The research starkly indicates the need for parents and children and young people with SEND to be listened to when raising concerns about unmet needs and treated with paramount importance when they raise concerns about exploitation,” said Anita Franklin, lead researcher and professor of childhood studies at Manchester Metropolitan University.
“The evidence illustrates the importance of agencies working together to understand and address the interplay of SEND and exploitation in terms of risk and response. The consequences of inadequate or inappropriate responses are having a devasting impact on children and families across the UK.
“We require joined up policy and guidance from national government, and resources and trained practitioners in order that appropriate prevention and responses address this child protection issue. Children and families have a right to be protected.”
