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Criminal exploitation of children
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A child* can be exploited without realising it. A child can be exploited while appearing confident, in control or actively involved in crime.
The criminal exploitation of children is child abuse.
*Throughout this page, we use the term child to refer to anyone under 18, recognising that all under-18s are children in law and should be protected as such.
Before we can recognise the criminal exploitation of children, we must confront how we see children who break the law and the language we use about them.
If all we see is what a child has done, we might never look at what is being done to them:
Children have told us that exploitation does not always feel like exploitation from the inside. It may feel like money, protection, belonging, status, power, escape or the only opportunity that seems open to them.
They may not describe themselves as victims. They may believe they made a choice, understood the risk or gained something from what they were doing.
Adults still have a responsibility to look beyond the behaviour, be curious and protect them. To stop people exploiting children, we need safety, hope and opportunities strong enough to compete with what harm appears to offer.
If you are worried about a child, you do not need proof before asking for help. If something feels wrong, trust that concern and get advice.
If someone is in immediate danger, call 999.
If you think a child may be at risk of harm, contact your local social work department or call Police Scotland on 101.
For parents, carers and families in Scotland, the Children First Support Line can help you talk things through and decide what to do next. Call: 08000 28 22 33 Webchat.
Keeping a child safe can start with one conversation.
In this short film, Fearless is joined by experts from Action for Children, the Children and Young People’s Centre for Justice, Scottish Violence Reduction Unit and Missing People Scotland.
It explores why criminal exploitation can be hard for children to recognise, why adults need to look beyond behaviour, and why safer alternatives must feel real:
Know the harm
The criminal exploitation of a child happens when a child is manipulated, pressured, coerced, controlled or used by someone else to take part in criminal activity.
- hold or move drugs
- carry weapons
- store money, drugs or other items
- steal high value items or alcohol
- threaten or intimidate others
- consume alcohol and/or take drugs
- allow people to use their home or space
- use a vulnerable adult’s space or home
- recruit or pressure other young people
- travel to other areas
- pay off debt or favours
- do things they do not feel able to refuse
Children can experience more than one form of exploitation at the same time. A child who is being criminally exploited may also experience coercion, violence, sexual abuse or sexual exploitation. The same person or group may use different forms of harm, control and abuse to manipulate a child.
It rarely begins with threats or violence, but often that’s the first thing that is spotted because it may be more obvious.
It can begin with attention, gifts, money, opportunity, lifts, food, clothes, drugs, protection or a sense of being trusted.
Then it can change.
- The favour becomes debt.
- The lift becomes expectation.
- The money becomes pressure.
- The friendship becomes control.
People who exploit children may use threats, violence and debt. They can also build loyalty, dependence and a sense that the child has too much to lose by leaving.
A child may appear confident, willing or proud. They may be making money. They may feel respected or powerful. None of this removes the harm. A child involved in crime may still be a child being abused.
That does not excuse harm caused to other people. It means adults must be able to hold two truths at once:
A child can cause harm while also being harmed.
There is no single sign that proves a child is being exploited.
Some children may appear frightened or withdrawn. Others may seem confident, defensive, streetwise or completely in control.
You may notice a child:
- going missing or staying away from home, even just for short periods of time
- having money, clothes, phones, drugs or other items they cannot explain
- travelling to unfamiliar places
- being collected or dropped off by people you do not know
- spending time with older people or a new group
- becoming secretive, anxious, angry or unusually defensive
- withdrawing from family, education or other support
- carrying weapons or talking about needing protection
- becoming involved in drugs, debt, pressure or threats
- holding or storing things for other people
- appearing worried about letting someone down
- suddenly having new status, money or influence
- a sudden increase in confidence, influence or status
- talking as though crime is the only realistic route to money, respect or success
These things do not automatically mean a child is being exploited. They are reasons to stay curious, look beyond the obvious, ask questions and seek advice.
You do not need proof before asking for support.
Know the context
Criminal exploitation does not happen in a vacuum. It happens through relationships, peer groups, online spaces, schools, local areas, transport routes and the places where children spend time.
Children involved in this campaign told us that grooming does not always begin when one person approaches a child directly. One child put it this way:
“Some young people are groomed by a person - yes - but most are groomed by the lifestyle and power they see on social media first. You want that and you think this is the only way so you’re more open to it when approached.”
That will not describe every child’s experience. But it asks adults to recognise that the pull towards exploitation may begin before direct contact with an exploiter.
Children may see money, clothes, cars, status, respect and control.
They do not see:
- Who is making the greatest profit?
- Who is being used?
- Who is taking the risk?
- The pressure behind the image
- The impact on their mental and physical wellbeing
- The violence
- The arrest
- The criminal record
- Or what happens when the money and attention disappear
A child may be drawn towards what exploitation appears to offer before they recognise the person offering it as a risk. That means prevention cannot focus only on warning children about individual groomers.
Adults also need to ask:
- Who is benefiting?
- Who is carrying the risk?
- What is this situation appearing to offer the child?
- Where and how are they being made unsafe?
- What influence are online spaces, peers and local environments having?
- What needs to change around the child, not only within the child?
Safety cannot depend entirely on asking the child to change. Telling a child to avoid an area may be unrealistic if that is where they live, go to school or spend time with friends. Telling them to block an account or stop seeing someone may not address why they were drawn towards the situation in the first place.
One child told us: “This is my reality. I don’t give a f***. What else is there for me?”
Another said: “It’s easier to take drugs than be taken go-karting.”
Those words matter. For some children, harmful opportunities are easier to reach than trusted adults, safety, meaningful activities or hope. If we want that to change, the safer alternative has to feel real.
Safer children need safer contexts, safer relationships and adults who do not look away.
Know the barriers
It is not a child’s responsibility to identify themselves as a victim of exploitation. It is the responsibility of adults to recognise when a child may be being harmed and respond with care and protection.
A child should not have to use the word ‘exploitation’, describe themselves as a victim or ask for help in the way adults expect before protection is offered.
They may say:
“I chose this.”
“I’m making money.”
“I’m not a victim.”
“I knew what I was doing.”
“Nobody forced me.”
“It’s better than having nothing.”
Adults should not wait for a child to recognise the exploitation, disclose everything or be ready to leave before acting to build safety around them.
Some children are protected later, some not at all, because adults misread them as older, tougher, more streetwise, more responsible or more in control than they really are.
Why do children not simply leave?
Threats, violence, debt and fear can all be part of criminal exploitation. But children told us that fear is not always the greatest barrier to leaving.
Sometimes, the bigger question is: What will I be left with if I stop?
One child explained:
“It’s not about the threats if they say no or leave. It’s about what they’re going to be left with if they stop. People don’t leave because there’s nothing for them. What would they be left with?”
Leaving may mean losing:
- Money
- Protection
- Status
- Belonging
- Identity
- Excitement
- Purpose
- Friendships
- The only opportunity that feels within reach
What adults see as “just money” may mean food, clothes, helping at home, keeping up with friends or finally feeling like somebody.
A child may see nothing safer or better waiting for them. Exploitation can harm a child while also appearing to meet needs that have gone unmet elsewhere. Recognising that does not make the exploitation less abusive. It helps explain why simply telling a child to stop, leave or make better choices is not enough.
A child needs more than a route out. They need choices and something real to move towards.
One child told us:
“Maybe I was being exploited, but I made out of it too.”
Adults do not need to deny what a child believes they gained. We need to help them look at the whole deal.
- Who made the most money?
- Who kept the power?
- Who stayed furthest away from the consequences?
- Who carried the risk?
Choice does not always mean freedom. Apparent control does not remove the need for protection. Adults should not wait for a child to recognise the exploitation, disclose everything or feel ready to leave before beginning to build safety around them.
Teenagers are children too:
....or not at all, because adults see them as older, tougher, more streetwise or more responsible than they really are.
Children are children up to the age of 18. All children deserve protection.
No child loses their rights because adults see them as troublesome, risky or responsible for their own exploitation.
Poverty, racism, care experience, trauma, disability, neurodiversity, school exclusion, community violence and gendered expectations can affect who is targeted, who is believed and who is criminalised first.
A child should not have to look frightened, compliant or grateful before adults recognise they are at risk.
Know your role
Every adult does not need to have all the answers, but every adult can help build safety around a child.
The criminal exploitation of a child often happens by people outside the home, through peers, older young people, adults, online contact or places a child spends time.
You may feel pushed away, lied to, threatened, blamed or completely powerless. That does not mean you do not matter.
Your relationship can still be part of the safety around a child, even if things feel very difficult right now.
- Stay calm.
- Listen more than you speak.
- Avoid blame, shame or panic.
- Let them know you are worried about them, not ashamed of them.
- Keep the relationship open, even if they reject help at first.
- Write down what is worrying you, including dates, names, places or changes you have noticed.
- Do not try to investigate alone.
- Get advice early.
A child may not tell you everything at once. They may need to know you are safe, steady and not going to react badly or give up on them first.
NSPCC: protecting children from child criminal exploitation
Parent Club: what is criminal exploitation?
Railway Children: advice & information
With You: drug & alcohol support
FRANK: honest information about drugs
Crew Scotland: information about drugs & drug use
Missing people: support for families and carers
Scottish Families: support services for families affected by alcohol & drugs
- Call 999 if someone is in immediate danger.
- Contact local social work team or Police Scotland on 101 if you think they may be at risk of harm.
- Contact the Children First Support Line if you need someone to talk it through with and give you support.
- Contact the SFAD Helpline on 08080 10 10 11 to talk to trained staff about concerns you may have with a child’s alcohol or drug use
- NSPCC: Helpline 0808 800 5000
Ask yourself:
- Are we seeing the full picture, or only the behaviour?
- Are we holding both harm and safeguarding together?
- Are we using language the child can hear?
- Are we assuming choice means freedom?
- Are we noticing bias or adultification?
- Are we changing the context around the child, or only expecting the child to change?
- Are we working together, or passing the child and family from service to service?
If exploitation appears to offer money, protection, status, belonging or escape, the safer alternative has to feel real.
That means trusted adults, safe places, meaningful things to do, practical help with fear, debt, drugs, pressure and basic needs, routes into learning, training and work, chances to feel valued, hopeful and recognise their self-worth.
This is not about excusing harm. It is about making sure people who exploit children are not the ones offering our children the strongest sense of belonging, opportunity or escape from incredibly difficult situations.
Resources for professionals
Safety, hope and opportunity matter
Children can and do move beyond exploitation.
Recovery is rarely quick or straightforward, but trusted relationships, practical support and safety make a huge difference.
Many children tell us they want the same things as everyone else: to feel safe, connected, respected, valued and hopeful about their future.
When adults stay curious, keep relationships open and work together to build safer alternatives, change becomes possible.
Every child deserves safety and protection. Every child deserves hope. Every child deserves a childhood filled with opportunity and free from harm.
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