Child sexual exploitation is an illegal activity by adults or even other young people, where they use their power over you to sexually abuse and exploit you.
Young people can be forced or tricked into doing sexual activities with other people, this can be other young people or adults. It can even be with people you thought you were in a relationship with, or who you thought were your friends.
It could happen in many different ways, such as online, by someone getting you to send them sexual pictures of yourself and then threatening to share these pictures. It can be through relationships and then these people forcing you to have sex with others for something in return.
Sexual exploitation can be very confusing because the person exploiting you could start off being very nice to you, giving you lots of compliments or gifts (like taking you to different places), before forcing you to do things you don’t want to do. So you may feel drawn to the person exploiting you, but feel scared of them at the same time.
It is very scary and you may feel like you have no one to talk to – we have lots of services who are aware of sexual exploitation and who can support you to ensure it stops and make sure you are safe.
If you or a friend is in this situation, please try to tell someone. If you feel you are in immediate danger call the police.
Who should I call?
Call 0161 872 5050 to speak to our dedicated team in Wigan who are there to help you.
Or you can contact Spectrum (external link) on 01942 483188 or call in and see them.
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