n my 20 years with the Metropolitan Police, I have specialised over the past 10 in investigating a range of safeguarding offences — including child sexual exploitation (CSE).

A crucial part of my service has been working with communities across London to raise awareness of this type of crime and educate those communities about how they can support law enforcement in preventing children coming to harm.

In early 2019, with Detective Constable Phil Maunders, I began working with Jewish communities in the capital on this initiative. Aware that prevention and early intervention are key, my team have been working closely with PaJeS to increase understanding of the signs to spot CSE, potential associated risks and to highlight the part communities have to play in protecting young people.

We all have a duty to safeguard children and prevent exploitation but parents have a particular role. Research shows that confident, authoritative parenting which supports children to make informed decisions is a key protective factor in relation to child exploitation.

Each year approximately 18,000 children across the UK are impacted by child sexual exploitation, including within the Jewish community. While this community is not disproportionately affected by CSE, it is important for those within it to be knowledgeable about the risks.

The approach to protecting young people needs to be whole system —while parents are crucial in this, the support and intervention of police, schools, charities, synagogues and the wider community is also critical. In order to ensure schools are as well equipped as possible, PaJeS has set up a priority messaging service with headteachers in order to share information which could help protect children across the capital.

Online exploitation is an ever present risk which has heightened over lockdown due to the increase in children at home alone on their phones. It’s vital parents are aware of the increased risk this extended exposure to the internet can pose and, where possible, should make efforts to monitor what their children are engaging with. All children are at risk of being targeted online by predators and the police have seen an increase in the number of children being exploited in this way.

Last year when we ran parent awareness evenings in schools in conjunction with PaJeS we encouraged parents to ask the four questions:

Where are your children going?

Who are your children with?

When will your children be back?

How are your children getting home?

Even though the country is in lockdown, we know young people are still getting out to meet their friends and these questions are applicable. They can also be adapted and be asked in relation to your child’s online activity.

Creating environments where children feel safe to discuss relationships, experiences and fears is one of the key steps to early intervention and prevention of child exploitation, and I’d encourage you all, where possible, to start conversations about what your child is engaging with, who they are speaking to, what their interests are. The more you know, the more you can protect.

We would encourage parents not to be afraid to speak out and request help from professionals when needed. CEOP (child exploitation and online protection) is a resource for parents if they are concerned their child may be exhibiting signs of risk (www.ceop.police.uk/safety-centre/). The way we work when we receive a referral is to ensure that even if a child has already been identified as a victim that we treat them as a child first, whatever circumstances they are in.

Finally, mental health and wellbeing is another area of concern where we are seeing an increasing number of referrals. Making sure your children know they can talk to you or another trusted adult will hopefully result in spotting risks at an earlier stage. Charities such as Mind or Jami can help you facilitate these conversations and find support.

Next term we will be running a virtual event in association with PaJeS to make parents and the wider community more aware of the issues impacting the community that I have touched on here.