Partners in Care? Sexually Exploited Young People’s Inclusion and Exclusion from Decision Making about Safeguarding

Abstract

This chapter considers the need to develop new ways of conceptualising young people affected by sexual exploitation as ‘service users’. Specifically it seeks to address questions about what young people, rather than ‘professionals’, bring to the process of safeguarding. It considers the relevance of developing opportunities for young people to exert power and influence within service provision and the importance of this approach when responding to existing abusive relationships defined by control and domination. Drawing on research using in-depth interviews with service users it argues that the protective potential of services may be limited or maximised by the degree to which young people are involved in decisions about their care. It suggests that within this context young people’s agency should be framed as a resource rather than a problem.

A lot of people have pushed us into things, have forced us to do things, and made a lot of decisions for us and we don’t need the people who are there to help us to do it as well.

(What Works for Us Group cited in Jago et al., 2011: 63)