Police industry unite in fight against child sexual exploitation

Today (Friday 6 December) the Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) Taskforce and partners from across the hospitality industry are uniting in the fight against child exploitation and abuse, with the aim of stamping out some of the worst criminality our society sees.

Operation Makesafe provides a significant opportunity to prevent child sexual exploitation, specifically incidents which take place in hotels and other forms of accommodation within the hospitality industry.

The work, being overseen by the CSE Taskforce, highlights the issue of hotels being used as locations to abuse and exploit children, raise awareness of the positive work being undertaken to prevent this, and educate the public - helping them to better understand the purpose of interventions carried out by hotel staff to safeguard children and young people.

Child sexual exploitation remains a key area of hidden harm to be tackled. It has long been acknowledged that hotels are locations at risk of being used by offenders to enable their criminality. Police forces across England and Wales are working hard to protect children and young people by detecting and preventing child sexual exploitation, through the implementation of Operation Makesafe. The power of partnership work, and what can be delivered through police, the hotel industry and third sector partners working together cannot be overestimated.

Phil Ashford, National Child Sexual Exploitation Lead for the CSE Taskforce explains: “We are working in partnership with hotel chains across England and Wales to ensure staff are trained to spot the signs of exploitation and know what action to take if they suspect criminal activity. We understand that anyone who checks into a hotel and is asked what could be perceived as difficult and intrusive questions by hotel staff may object, but please do understand that these questions are being asked with the best of intentions – and may save a child from experiencing lifelong trauma.”

Assistant Chief Constable Becky Riggs, National Police Chiefs’ Council Lead for Child Protection and Abuse Investigation said: “This work shines a spotlight on an area of hidden harm that we are committed to identifying to ensure those who are responsible are brought to justice.

“If you are a perpetrator of child sexual exploitation and abuse let me be clear; we are working with partners to identify who you are, where you operate, and the victims you target. The ambition of national policing it to take a whole-system approach to stamping out the exploitation – and Operation Makesafe takes us significantly closer to realising this.

“Policing has a central role to play in protecting children, but we can’t do it alone. I am encouraged to see such positive engagement from partners across the hospitality industry and thank them for the commitment they have already shown to Operation Makesafe.”

Jess Phillips, Minister for Safeguarding and Violence against Women and Girls, said:

"For too long, predators have taken advantage of the anonymity and privacy hotels provide to carry out the most appalling abuse against children.

"I commend the police, hotel industry and third sector partners like Children’s Society for working together to bring these heinous crimes out of the shadows. By training hotel staff to spot signs of exploitation in their premises, more children will be saved from this horror.

“This government will continue to support the Child Sexual Exploitation Taskforce and protect victims while relentlessly pursuing their abusers."