Boys’ and Young Men’s Experiences of Running Away and Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) Emilie Smeaton

Format of the presentation Introduction to the research Boy’s and young men’s experiences of running away and CSE Diversity and boys and young men Professionals’ experiences of working to address the needs of boys and young males and working to address their needs.

Characteristics of young males who participated in the research 15 of the 41 young people who participated in the research are male One self defines as transgender (male to female) Ten of the young males self define as gay, one as bisexual and one as being uncertain of his sexuality. Two of the young males are from the Traveller community, one is Bengali and one Black Caribbean/White British. Seven of the young males self-defined as having some form of learning disability.

CSE as a risk of running away “My friends told me about this man who had this flat and always had drink and drugs about. … He said he knew what parents could be like and how they didn’t understand kids and that I could crash at his flat anytime I wanted. … He raped me whilst I was out of it.” Joe

Perpetrators encouraging young males to run away James described himself as having learning difficulties and being lonely and socially inept. He was befriended by an older male who invited James to come to his home to play on his games console. James enjoyed having what he thought was a friend. The older male started to encourage James to stay away from home overnight and James started to run away regularly and stay with this man.

CSE as a survival strategy of running away “If you’re on the streets and you’re begging for money or something like that … people will see that you are vulnerable and will see that you are desperate for money and they will offer you it [money]. Men aren’t shy about offering you money or something like that. … They’ll say ‘do you want to come into this toilet with me? I’ve got some money; I’ll give you 20 quid’. And 20 quid’s very tempting when it took you all day to make a couple of quid. 20 quid for ten minutes is very tempting for a young person.” Ben “Sometimes I just can’t face another night of sleeping out so there’s this flat that I can go to but I have to take it up the bum to stay there.” Danny

Running Away to be with an older girlfriend or boyfriend “She was 22. … I hadn’t had sex before, my first time was with her. … I used to run away so that I could see her.” Leo “I was so desperate to leave my daddy, like, and I was chatting with this man on Facebook and I felt so bad about myself and I opened up to him and told him like what was going on and he said ‘do you want to come and live with me?’. … He ended up raping me.” Sean

Running away to escape CSE Shan and his siblings were internally trafficked by their father for years. Shan ran away because he could no longer bear the sexual exploitation. On returning home, Shan was beaten by his father and, aged 14, ran away for a final time and never returned home.

Running Away because of the desire to have sex “I felt like just wanted in way that I had never felt wanted before: like more of a lust than love. … And then when I was with a guy, I felt like I was being loved in a way that I hadn’t been loved by my parents and stuff. … I liked those feelings of being wanted and the sex and how it made me feel and I wanted those feelings.” Tom

Running away because of the pressure of a police operation “It was just all so stressful: being asked time and time again about the men [who had sexually exploited the young person], worrying what the court hearing was going to be like. … I just had to get away from it all.” Tom

The role of the internet “I wanted a boyfriend and met this man on Facebook who said he wanted to be my boyfriend. He arranged for a taxi to come and pick me and up and told me not to tell anyone where I was going.” Liam

Feeling isolated and experiencing running away and CSE “[If] I could have talked to them [other gay young people] I wouldn’t have gone on to the internet to talk to someone about how I felt. So if I hadn’t done that, I would haven’t got into the whole sex[ual exploitation] and running away thing.” Tom

Drugs and alcohol in the relationship between running away and CSE “I got off my face as this was the only way I was gonna get through the evening. … We knew what was going to happen so we would just think ‘need to get wasted for this’ and enjoy the drugs they gave us.” Ben

Diversity – Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) young males Necessary to consider that the risks of disclosing running away and CSE can be too high for BME young people: “There is that hidden group of young people for whom it’s almost impossible for them to disclose without catastrophic consequences.” “He was being befriended by other males who then abused him … and passed him around. He eventually moved out of the area completely because when the family found out he was gay, they wanted to get him an arranged marriage.” (Professionals working with young males who experience running away and CSE)

Young people from Traveller Communities Sean stressed how difficult it is for young people in Traveller communities who are gay and/or experience CSE. Often the only option for young people within the Traveller community who are being sexually exploited is to hope that they have a very close friend they can trust and talk to. Running away from Traveller communities is a particularly weighty decision as there is often no option to return.

Working to meet the needs of young males Projects often find it harder to reach and work with young males as:  fewer males come to the attention of professionals;  general lack of professional awareness about young males running away and experiencing running away and CSE;  the additional reluctance of young males to disclose CSE. Young males often come to the attention of professionals through other forms of exploitation and being criminalised which can mask their running away and CSE. Necessary to consider reach and look for young males differently, adopt a long-term approach and implement effective ways of engaging young males. Finally, crucial to recognise all young people, irrespective of gender or sexuality, as a child who is at risk of harm and in need of support.

Issues for Discussion Do you see particular patterns of boys and young men running away and experiencing CSE in your local area/practice? Are there challenges that you face to address meeting the needs of boys and young men who experience both running away and CSE? What would support your practice with boys and young men who experience both running away and CSE? Is there anything else of interest/relevance in relation to boys and young men who experience both running away and CSE?

To download the full research report, please go to: se_running_from_hate_2l_web.pdf se_running_from_hate_2l_web.pdf For further information about the research please contact: uk