By Helen Brayley, Ella Cockbain and Kate Gibson.

In recent years, there has been an increased policy and media focus on the sexual exploitation of children in the UK. This interest follows several high-profile police investigations which led to groups of offenders being charged and convicted for sexual offences against multiple child victims. Practitioner groups such as the police and local safeguarding children boards have been criticised for failing to prevent this form of victimisation. Although there has been an upsurge in activity to address child sexual exploitation (CSE), the recent focus has been almost exclusively on female victims and male offenders. The majority of the literature on CSE has either ignored or only briefly acknowledged the experiences of boys and young men as victims rather than offenders. This rapid evidence assessment, part of a wider Nuffield Foundationfunded project, provides an overview of the current literature addressing the experiences of boys and young men who are CSE victims.

London: University College of London, Barnardos'; NetCen,2014. 42p.