Any child or young person can be at risk of exploitation, though due to stereotypes, young women being criminally exploited often goes undetected. [1]

Safer London is a specialist pan-London charity that supports young people, families and communities affected by violence and exploitation. Their multi-skilled team focus on safeguarding children as a priority.

Sherry Peck is the Chief Executive of Safer London. She has over 25 years of experience in the delivery, commissioning and management of services for children and young people. Her experience is wide-ranging and includes working as Director at The Children’s Society.

In this video, Sherry addresses the less well-known role of girls in criminal networks and shares the importance of contextual safeguarding when protecting young girls and women from exploitation. Gaining a better understanding of the social context around individual circumstances better equips practitioners to support and rehabilitate females affected by violence and exploitation.

[1] Children’s Society, (2021) The Invisible Girls of Exploitation

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It is often thought that only boys are criminally exploited but research by The Children’s Commissioner reveals that girls account for 34% of children aged under 17 involved in gangs in England. In this video Sherry Peck, Chief Executive of Safer London addresses the less well-known role of girls in criminal networks and discusses contextual safeguarding approaches to improve support programmes focused on rehabilitating females affected by violence and exploitation.

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