FREE Webinar: Safe and Sound Awareness Session

Safe and Sound is Derbyshire's long-established and specialist child exploitation charity. We protect and support children, young people and families affected by exploitation which includes online grooming, sexual exploitation, trafficking, drugs , modern slavery and radicalisation.

We also support the wider families and work across communities to raise awareness of the dangers facing children and young people.

Part of this role is to raise awareness so people from all walks of life can better understand about child exploitation, more readily recognise the early signs of grooming and hopefully have the confidence to ask for help.

During this one-hour virtual session you will learn:

• What Safe and Sound does
• What is child exploitation
• The grooming process
• Spotting the signs of exploitation
• Who may be most at risk of child exploitation
• How Safe and Sound support children and young people

Any child, regardless of their age, sex, family background or culture can be the victim of exploitation. By raising awareness of child exploitation and adjusting potentially harmful behaviours at an early stage, we can prevent exploitation ever happening - avoiding a devasting experience for the child and their family.

Emily's Story

14-year-old Emily is now much more positive about life - but that has not always been the case.

Emily (not her real name) thought that the 24-year-old woman who had approached her online was her friend.

The woman made Emily feel important and grown up - showing interest in her life and then started buying her gifts that she had wanted for ages.

The situation soon took a sinister turn when a visit to the woman's home ended in sexual assault.

Emily's instant reaction was to cut off ties with the woman but she was blackmailed into returning to the house with threats that her family and friends would be told she had consented to a relationship.

The sexual and emotional abuse continued for many months but Emily didn't know who or where to turn for help - thinking that she would be blamed for what had happened. Feeling desperate and ashamed, she began to self-harm.

Matters came to a head when a teacher noticed this and approached Emily, who eventually explained what had been going on.

The road to transforming her life came when Emily started working with a specialist support worker from Safe and Sound in a safe place.

They discussed online safety, grooming, what is a healthy relationship and issues around consent. The support worker particularly reinforced that what happened to Emily was not her fault and she should not feel ashamed for what had happened to her.

Not only is Emily now able to recognise the warning signs of grooming and sexual exploitation - she is arming her own friends with the knowledge and awareness to hopefully help them understand grooming too and how and where to go for support.

She is now benefiting from seeing a specialist mental health counsellor (CAMHS) to help her come to terms with what has happened to her.