The following are signs and behaviour generally seen in children who are already being sexually exploited:
- Missing from home or care
- Physical injuries
- Drug or alcohol misuse
- Involvement in offending
- Repeated sexually transmitted infections, pregnancy and terminations
- Absent from school
- Change in physical appearance
- Evidence of sexual bullying and/or vulnerability through the internet and/or social networking sites
- Estranged from family
- Receipt of gifts from unknown sources
- Recruiting others into exploitative situations
- Poor mental health
- Self-harm
- Thoughts or attempts at suicide
Office of the Children’s Commissioner’s Inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation in Gangs and Groups/Interim Report