Cost of living crisis raises parents' fears of child exploitation

Parents have raised concerns about the risk of child exploitation as a result of the cost of living crisis.

One father, from Bristol, said he constantly worries about how he can stop his children being unintentionally "dragged into" crime.

"Prices have gone up and children can easily be lured in," he said.

A Bristol City Council spokesperson said the crisis has added to current pressures faced by parents trying to keep up with the latest technology.

The concerns were raised following a safeguarding event set up to address existing issues facing the Somali community following the coronavirus pandemic.

It aimed to discuss ways in which young people could be prevented from becoming involved in or linked to drugs, county lines and other criminality.

Abdi Hassan Hajin, who has six children, said: "How can I save a child, who is financially unable to do what he wants to, not be dragged into things where someone offers them something without their understanding.

"We are trying to get an idea of how we can all work together to tackle this challenge we are facing now and to make Barton and Bristol a safer place to live in."

Mr Hajin welcomed the safeguarding event as a "stepping stone" towards addressing the issue.

**An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated the safeguarding event heard children felt they were under pressure to keep up with the latest technology.

Moestak Hussein, from Bristol City Council's public health and community sector, said: "This is all about practical ideas and ways that they can safeguard their children.

"We have a lot of parents concerned about the cost of living challenges and the pressures that young children face whether it's keeping up with the new phones, trainers etc.

"They feel there is a risk of young people joining criminal activities or being exploited to keep up with the pressures of societies.

"Understanding what child exploitation looks like, what happens if your 12-year-old child comes home with a new pair of sneakers and the parents haven't contributed towards that, and how to have those conversations is what we are discussing."

The meeting was a collaboration between Bristol City Council's Children Services, Barton Hill Activity Club, Bristol Drugs Project, Bristol Somali Youth Voice, Avon and Somerset Police, Bristol Somali Resource Centre, the local education services and Bristol Horn Youth Concern.

Samira Muse, who is a director of Barton Hill Activity Club which provides holiday activities for children, said prevention was key to keeping children safe and the best way of achieving that lay in collaboration between all of the assembled groups and organisations.

"We, as the organisers are big on prevention and that's why I contacted most of the services here," she said.

"When we see services is [normally] when children are already deep in drugs and things like that.

"This kind of event helps parents to come out to the services and talk to them about the support available to them before the children reach a certain age or a problem becomes bigger."

Black Somalis are the largest growing minority ethnic community in Bristol, the council said.

But language barriers were highlighted as one of the main problems for them accessing services so the event was delivered in English and Somali.

Avon and Somerset Police said it had been working in partnership with The St Giles Trust since 2021 to support and divert young people in Bristol away from drugs.

The trust is a social justice charity that supports young people who may be involved in or are likely to become involved in drugs, county lines and other criminality, by providing them with specially trained mentors who have lived experience of the situations children find themselves in.

The police force said it recognised the multiple issues faced by young children and wanted to share information about spotting and reporting child exploitation.

A spokesperson said: "The focus of the team was to provide vulnerable children with a means to ensure their voices are amplified and heard; they are safeguarded and protected from harm; crimes against them are investigated to a high standard and they are given access to the criminal justice system."

A second event is planned following Christmas for parents who were unable to attend the first session.

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