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Contextualising the need for safe accommodation
Children from any background can be, and are, affected by child sexual exploitation (CSE), but those with experience of local authority care are over-represented in known cases of victims (Beckett, 2011; OCC, 2012; Shuker, 2013a). This is partially explained by a common set of background experiences underlying both entry to care and vulnerability to exploitation (Beckett, 2011; Shuker, 2013b), but also illuminates concerns about how and where the care system itself can increase, rather than reduce, that vulnerability. Accommodation that reduces risk and increases safety is a crucial part of the child protection response for children affected by sexual exploitation. Standard 4 of the Fostering Services National Minimum Standards seeks to ensure that all foster children feel safe and are safe, including the explicit expectation that "children are protected from abuse and other forms of significant harm (e.g. sexual or labour exploitation)" (Department for Education, 2011). If exploitation is not addressed by the care system, that system contributes to an increased risk of further exploitation for individuals, and to a lack of safety for young people in general. Attempts to create safe communities for young people must therefore consider the types of care placement commissioned, and how young people's exposure to risk is affected as they move through the system, across placements, and into and out of different communities.
It has been suggested that foster care may generally be more appropriate for those at risk, or victims, of CSE, but that "chaotic behaviour" often leads to young people being placed in residential units (Lillywhite and Skidmore, 2006; OCC, 2012). While evidence on the placement pathways of CSE victims is very limited, it does suggest that the number of victims of CSE in residential care may be disproportionately high compared to the wider in-care population (Beckett, 2011; Jago et al. , 2011; Shuker, 2013b). Given their often multiple and intersecting vulnerabilities, it may not be surprising to find victims of CSE in more expensive care settings such as residential and secure units, which are increasingly used to accommodate adolescents with more serious difficulties who may have had trouble settling in foster placements (Berridge et al. , 2010), and who are more likely to have experienced multiple placements in the...