Recognising Abuse, Exploitation & Risk
The four main types of abuse, trafficking and modern slavery, child sexual exploitation, missing children, FGM, radicalisation, and what can mask abuse from view.
What this part covers
- Physical & emotional abuse
- Sexual abuse & neglect
- Child trafficking & modern slavery
- Child sexual exploitation (CSE)
- Missing children
- Female genital mutilation (FGM)
- Radicalisation
- What masks the appearance of abuse
Working Together to Safeguard Children (2018) sets out four main types of child abuse: physical, emotional, sexual, and neglect. Abuse can also take other forms — exploitation by gangs, trafficking, online abuse, and extremism among them — and there's real overlap between categories. If you suspect abuse in any form, you must report it.
Physical abuse
Physical abuse is when someone deliberately hurts or injures another person — hitting, pushing, slapping, kicking, biting, throwing, poisoning, burning or suffocating all count, as does any other form of deliberate physical harm.
- Bruising, especially shaped like fingers or nails, or in an unusual place
- Burns, including cigarette burns or scald rings from hot water
- Bite marks or broken bones
- Flinching when approached, fear of home or parents, low mood, mood swings, or few close friendships
Emotional abuse
Emotional abuse is persistent emotional ill-treatment severe enough to damage a child's emotional development — frightening, degrading, humiliating, scapegoating, exposing them to domestic abuse, or simply ignoring and manipulating them.
- Low self-confidence, anxiety, withdrawal, or delayed emotional and social development
- Self-harm, over-compliance, or a lack of trust in others
- Unexplained weight loss or disturbed sleep
- Rarely, a child may feign illness for attention — a recognised pattern called Münchausen Syndrome (by proxy, when caused by a caregiver)
For both types, watch for a pattern in the adult too — inconsistent explanations for an injury, a dominating or aggressive personality, a history of abuse or domestic violence, or a general lack of understanding of what a child actually needs.
Sexual abuse
Sexual abuse means forcing or enticing a child into sexual activity, whether or not the child understands what's happening — penetrative or non-penetrative acts, visual acts, or encouraging a child to behave in a sexually inappropriate way all count. A child can never legally consent to this.
- Fear of certain people or places, bed-wetting, eating disorders, or inappropriate sexual behaviour or knowledge
- Unexplained pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections, urinary infections, or genital bruising, discharge or bleeding
- Self-harm, or few close friendships
Neglect
Neglect is a persistent failure to meet a child's basic physical or psychological needs, to the point their health or development is affected — failing to provide adequate food, shelter, clothing or medical care, and failing to respond to a child's basic emotional needs.
- Hunger, weight loss, dehydration, poor hygiene, or an untreated medical condition
- Loneliness, low self-confidence, or compulsive stealing (especially of food)
Trafficking is when a child is tricked, forced or persuaded to leave home, then transported and exploited — for sexual exploitation, benefit fraud, forced marriage, domestic servitude, forced labour, or being made to commit crime. Children are often groomed or threatened, or promised a better life elsewhere.
The NSPCC lists possible signs of trafficking: spending unusual amounts of time on chores, rarely leaving the house, having no time to play, being unsure where they are, having unexplained money or possessions, having unexplained injuries, or giving an account that sounds rehearsed.
Modern slavery
Modern slavery — including forced labour, debt bondage, and child slavery — has been rising in the UK. Recent figures recorded over 12,700 potential victims of modern slavery in a single year, the highest since records began, of which around 43% were children. Criminal exploitation (often tied to drug distribution, including so-called "county lines" trafficking of British children) is currently the most common form, followed by forced labour.
The Modern Slavery Act 2015 consolidated existing offences into a single Act, introduced tougher sentencing (up to life imprisonment), created an Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner, and introduced a legal defence for victims of trafficking and slavery.
CSE involves an adult taking sexual advantage of a child for their own benefit, typically using bribery, threats, humiliation, or by convincing the child that the abuser is the only one who genuinely cares about them. Children can be confused by feeling they've been "given something" in return — money, food, accommodation, or emotional attention — often without realising they're being exploited at all. CSE can happen anywhere a child has less supervision and easier access to strangers — shopping centres, arcades, cinemas, bus and railway stations among them.
Factors that increase vulnerability
- Being a child in care, or having experienced previous sexual abuse
- A learning disability or difficulty
- Family bereavement, substance misuse, or living in poverty
- Gang association, social isolation, homelessness, or being blackmailed
Possible signs
Physical signs include self-harm, repeated STI or pregnancy tests, or unexplained changes in appearance. Psychological signs include low self-esteem, depression or PTSD. Behavioural signs include repeated absence from school, going missing from home, unexplained gifts or money, or increasingly sexualised behaviour or dress.
- CSE is not just sexual abuse — perpetrators are typically committing several crimes at once
- Any child can be a victim, regardless of background, and perpetrators can be male or female
- A child cannot legally consent to CSE, even if they don't see themselves as a victim
- An exploited child may refuse help — you must still do everything you reasonably can to safeguard them
If you suspect CSE, contact the appropriate agencies immediately — even if you're unsure about consent, or worry the concern seems minor. Discuss it first with your local named or designated safeguarding lead if you're able to.
An estimated 100,000+ children are reported missing in the UK every year, and roughly two in three children who go missing are never reported to the police at all — going missing is genuinely dangerous, and carries long-term risk: nearly half of sentenced prisoners report having run away as children.
What puts a missing child at risk
Children who go missing face a heightened risk of violence, sexual or criminal exploitation, involvement in drug trafficking, and modern slavery. They're also more likely to already be facing other difficulties — trouble with the police, truancy, or previous abuse. Common reasons a child leaves home include problems at home, family breakdown, mental health difficulties, bullying, or teenage pregnancy — and once missing, they become more vulnerable to grooming for sexual or criminal exploitation, county lines activity, or trafficking.
If a child in your care goes missing, take whatever agreed action is available to locate them — and if they can't be found, inform the police, the responsible authority, and anyone named in the child's care plan, such as their parents.
FGM is recognised as a form of abuse under Working Together to Safeguard Children. It refers to any non-medical procedure that partially or totally removes, or injures, the external female genitals, usually performed on girls up to around 15. It has been illegal in the UK since 1985, carries a maximum sentence of 14 years, and it's also a criminal offence to help take a child abroad for FGM to be carried out elsewhere.
Situations that may arouse suspicion
- A parent or sibling is known to have undergone FGM
- A child mentions a "special ceremony," or a procedure to "become a woman"
- A family plans to take a child out of school for a prolonged period, or discusses travel vaccinations for a trip abroad
Possible signs FGM has already taken place
- Difficulty sitting, walking, or urinating; soreness or infection noticed during toileting or nappy changes
- Frequent menstrual problems, prolonged absence, or becoming withdrawn
- Reluctance to undergo a normal medical examination
Radicalisation is when someone becomes drawn into, or comes to support, extremist ideology — recognised as a form of harm that can lead toward involvement in terrorism. Because it's a gradual process, a vulnerable young person may not realise they're being drawn in at all, often through the same grooming and psychological manipulation seen in other forms of exploitation.
What increases vulnerability
- Being impressionable, isolated, or having low self-esteem
- Feeling rejection, discrimination or injustice, or experiencing community tension
- A strong need for acceptance, or recent grief
Possible indicators
- Spending significant time with people holding extreme views, online or in person
- A sudden change in appearance or dress, or losing interest in friends unconnected to the new ideology
- Displaying symbols associated with an extremist group, or trying to recruit others
Abuse doesn't always look obvious, and several patterns can keep it hidden from view:
- Secrecy — the child is too frightened to report what's happening
- Helplessness — the child feels unable to stop or report the abuse
- Self-blame — the child believes they somehow deserve it
- Delayed disclosure — the child waits a long time before telling anyone
- Retraction — the child withdraws and avoids drawing attention
- Dependency on the abuser — a trauma bond, sometimes described as Stockholm Syndrome
Anyone can be responsible for any type of abuse — there's no reliable pattern in what relationship an abuser has to the child, which is exactly why staying alert matters more than assumptions about who is or isn't a risk.