An exploration of how gender stereotypes influence how practitioners identify and respond to victims (or those at risk) of child sexual exploitation

Hill, Lauren and Diaz, Clive ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5681-9056 2021. An exploration of how gender stereotypes influence how practitioners identify and respond to victims (or those at risk) of child sexual exploitation. Child and Family Social Work 26 (4) , pp. 642-651. 10.1111/cfs.12845

PDF - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (915kB)

Abstract

Abstract Child sexual exploitation (CSE) has been found to have a detrimental and long‐lasting impact upon a victim's physical and emotional well‐being. A large body of research has raised concerns about how practitioners identify and respond to CSE. In particular, research has indicated that male victims of CSE are commonly being overlooked by practitioners. It has been suggested that this may occur as a result of gender stereotypes. However, this has not been specifically explored by existing research. Therefore, this research project explored how gender stereotypes may influence how practitioners identify and respond to children and young people who are victims (or at risk) of CSE. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with eight practitioners from one Youth Offending Service in the South West of England. Three key themes emerged from the interviews. These themes highlight that as a result of gender stereotypes, practitioners may be less likely and/or slower to identify males as victims and may be less likely to provide males with supportive multi‐agency responses. This paper makes recommendations about how this issue can be addressed to ensure that all victims of CSE are adequately safeguarded.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Social Sciences (Includes Criminology and Education) Children’s Social Care Research and Development Centre (CASCADE)
Publisher:	Wiley
ISSN:	1356-7500
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	12 May 2021
Date of Acceptance:	19 March 2021
Last Modified:	05 May 2023 09:40
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/141255

Citation Data

Cited 2 times in Scopus. View in Scopus. Powered By Scopus® Data

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item