The Preventing Child Abuse and Exploitation Conference 2026: Keeping Children Safe from Harm
Past Supporters Include:
Overview:
Every day, children are harmed in homes, schools, communities, and online spaces, often hidden in plain sight. While reported cases continue to rise, professionals know the true scale of abuse is far greater than the data suggests. In response, the UK has introduced landmark reforms: the new Child Protection Authority and the Freedom from Violence and Abuse Strategy to tackle child exploitation and ensure stronger and quicker support for victims. These developments mark a pivotal moment in safeguarding, signalling a shift from reactive responses to proactive, system-wide protection, however:
- Children make up only 20% of the population but are the victims in 40% of all sexual offences recorded by the police. (Gov UK, 2025)
- 13.6 million people aged 18 years and over (29.0%) had experienced “any abuse” before the age of 18 years (ONS, 2024)
- 300 million+ children under the age of 18 have been affected by online child sexual exploitation and abuse in the last 12 months worldwide (WeProtect, 2024)
Join us at the Preventing Child Abuse Conference 2026: Keeping Children Safe from Harm to explore the latest policy updates, evidence-based prevention strategies, and practical interventions. Hear from leading experts, connect with senior colleagues from public, voluntary, and statutory sectors, and engage in discussions that will help you turn national strategy into frontline action. This conference is your opportunity to understand emerging risks, strengthen multi-agency collaboration, and ensure children are protected before harm occurs.
Agenda
Registration
Chair’s Opening Remarks
Dr Tracee Green, Head of the Centre for Child Protection, University of Kent (CONFIRMED)
Keynote: Identifying and Responding to Child Abuse Effectively
- Ensuring quick identification of abuse or exploitation to minimise risk of harm
- Supporting a child’s physical and emotional well-being during the process of reporting abuse and beyond
- Outlining what steps to take when a referral is not made or the threshold for intervention is not met
- Embedding trauma-informed, child-centred practice at every stage of identification and response
Suzanne Taylor, Practice Improvement Advisor, Knowledge & Practice Development, The Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse (CONFIRMED)
Case Study: How DBS supports reducing the risk of harm to children
- The role of DBS to support safeguarding of children.
- An insight into the DBS Barred Lists.
- How DBS assess whether an individual should be placed on a barred list.
- The impact of being placed on one or both barred lists.
Cathy Taylor, Head of Partnerships, Disclosure and Barring Service (CONFIRMED)
Partner Session: Rethinking Safeguarding Judgements when working with parents with Learning Disabilities and Neurodiversity: Unprotective or Unsupported?
- Capacity to be protective – how this may be difficult for a parent with an LD to understand professional concerns
- What the difficulties may look like
- Barriers when working with professionals
- How we can support parents to be protective
Claire Connors, Senior Trainer, ParentAssess (CONFIRMED)
Questions & Answers
Comfort Break
Keynote: Utilising Multi-Agency Working to Tackle Child Abuse and Exploitation
- Using intelligence and local data to highlight hotspots, emerging threats, and periods of heightened risk
- Incorporating victim and survivor experiences to inform proactive policing strategies and multi-agency interventions
- Strengthening communication and operational protocols between agencies to improve early identification, investigation, and safeguarding outcomes
- Ensuring that local multi-agency strategies and systems are in place so that children being exploited or at risk of exploitation get a timely response
Androulla Vai Nicolaou, Child Exploitation Prevention Officer, Avon and Somerset Constabulary (CONFIRMED)
Case Study: Child Exploitation: Drawing Parallels Between County Lines Grooming and Radicalisation
- Examining how children are coerced or groomed into criminal networks across counties
- Understanding the drivers of county lines exploitation, including poverty, vulnerability, and social pressures
- Identifying early warning signs and intervention points for schools, social services, and law enforcement
- Multi-agency approaches to disrupt networks, protect children, and provide trauma-informed support
- Insights from survivor experiences to inform prevention and rehabilitation strategies
Jenna Ellis, Associate, Criminology Services (CONFIRMED)
Questions & Answers
Lunch Break
Breakout Networking
This session will provide you with the opportunity to discuss the main challenges you face in safeguarding roles to protect children from abuse. We encourage you to share how you are currently working in partnership to increase awareness of child abuse, focus on the lived experience of survivors and discuss your most up-to-date safeguarding initiatives. Take this time to share your experiences and network with senior colleagues.
Keynote: Centering the Voice of the Child
Dr Claire Stewart MBBS BSc MRCPCH, Paediatric Subspecialty Registrar, Guy’s and St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust, National Trainee Representative, British Association for Community Child Health (BACCH) (CONFIRMED)
Case Study: Safeguarding Children with Disabilities
- Identifying the heightened risks of abuse and exploitation among children with physical, learning, or sensory disabilities
- Tailoring safeguarding pathways, communication strategies, and protective interventions
- Training for frontline professionals to recognise abuse and respond effectively
- Working with families, carers, and specialist services to deliver coordinated, child-centred protection
Lucy Davis, Designated Safeguarding Lead and Safeguarding Disabled Children Trainer, The Garden School Hackney (CONFIRMED)
Case Study: Keeping Children Safe Online: Deepfakes and Online Grooming
- Outlining the risks of AI-generated content, deepfakes, and online grooming
- Understanding UK laws and police powers to combat online exploitation
- Practical guidance for schools, parents, and tech platforms to spot early signs of online grooming and technology facilitated abuse
- Supporting children who have been targeted or harmed online through trauma-informed responses
Will Gardner OBE, CEO, Childnet (invited)
Questions & Answers
Chair’s Closing Remarks
Dr Tracee Green, Head of the Centre for Child Protection, University of Kent (CONFIRMED)
Conference Close
Get in Touch
Previous Speakers
Karen Garland
Research and Policy Officer
Marie Collins Foundation
Megan Hinton
Victim and Survivor Advocate
Marie Collins Foundation
Ella Bradshaw
Policy and Public Affairs Officer
NSPCC
Testimonials
This conference was really well planned and covered a varied range of topics, giving a comprehensive overview of the area as well as individual examples/good practice. The knowledge gained from the event will help to shape our future organisational work in this area.
Incredibly well thought out and interesting event, I have learnt and taken a lot away from this.
This was a really informative, eye opening event. I learnt a lot and will take a lot of the information to my wider team.
Really useful and insightful discussions and updates, will be using the resources to improve knowledge and understanding of said topics.
Why You Should Attend
✓ Hear high-level keynotes on the latest updates and guidance on combating child exploitation
✓ Gain practical insights into identifying victims, creating effective referral pathways, and engaging with parents and carers
✓ Engage with senior colleagues from across the sector to discuss strategies for keeping children safe from abuse while online
✓ Gain 8 hours of CPD points towards your yearly quota
Who Should Attend?
| Job Title Examples | Organisation Examples |
| Teachers | Police |
| Designated Safeguarding Officers | Schools |
| Social Workers | LEA’s |
| Prevent Officers | Hospices |
| Online Safety Co-Ordinator’s | NHS |
| Strategic Analysts | Children Support Charities |
| Head of Safeguarding | Children Safeguarding Partnerships |
Pricing Options
PUBLIC SECTOR
Your delegate place at this leading conference gives you: Full access to the conference; E-guide; Networking opportunities during the day; Access to presentations post conference; 8 CPD Points.
Voluntary Sector
Your delegate place at this leading conference gives you: Full access to the conference; E-guide; Networking opportunities during the day; Access to presentations post conference; 8 CPD Points.
PRIVATE SECTOR
Your delegate place at this leading conference gives you: Full access to the conference; E-guide; Networking opportunities during the day; Access to presentations post conference; 8 CPD Points.
Sponsorship
Raise Your Profile, Showcase Your Solutions, Generate New Business
If your products, services, and solutions can support our audiences in their roles, and you want to make connections and generate new business with key stakeholders, decision makers, and influencers, then please contact us using the enquiry form below.
IMPORTANT: There are only a small number of sponsorship opportunities available to ensure maximum exposure and ROI – contact us today to secure your place.
Virtual vs F2F
Whilst F2F provide better options for networking, there are many distinct advantages of sponsoring our online conferences including:
- Wider geographical reach of delegates and a different audience who prefer online to f2f
- Lower sponsorship package costs
- No travel/accommodation
- Less time out of the office
- No stand materials required (lower costs)
- 1 of only 2 sponsors involved – less competition on the day
- Prime speaking slot in the morning of the conference including Q&A – less distractions and easier for delegates to hear/absorb information
- Receive all delegate data after the conference to follow-up directly with those who attend and don’t attend (small % but still key stakeholders)
- Ongoing exposure via OnDemand access (coming soon)
To find out more and discuss your specific objectives, please contact us below:
