Splintered Lives - Barnardo's

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chapter
12 Innovative responses
In this section we look at both legislative measures and direct support strategies from
Britain and elsewhere which offer new possibilities for developing appropriate
responses.
Several European countries have now enacted legislation which make nationals
prosecutable for any act of child abuse anywhere in the world. Such legislation is
supported by the UK Coalition on Child Prostitution and Tourism founded in 1994, but
an amendment to this effect to the 1993 Criminal Justice Bill was rejected by the
government; they argued that existing extradition arrangements were sufficient and that
the law would be difficult to enforce. The same legislation was introduced as a private
members in 1995, but it is likely to fall due to lack of government support.
Media representations which neither sensationalise nor present children and young
people as 'passive victims' have enormous potential for public education and
consciousness raising. There are implications here for British child welfare
organisations, in terms of the ways they represent 'children in need' in order to raise
funds. There is a balance to be struck here between raising awareness about damage
and harm and emotive responses which, whilst effective in fund-raising terms, alienate
and distress those who are currently being, or have in the past been, abused.
Some teachers responsible for social education - which includes sex education - directly
address pornography and prostitution, but British children currently have no right to sex
education. This is a fundamental children's rights issue, where the real questions and
dilemmas faced by children and young people are honestly discussed. Within the overall
social education framework computer ethics can also be dealt with. Some institutions
have already begun developing policy in this area. The British Computer Society schools
committee has a working party which will produce guidelines on dealing with computer
pornography in schools. The University of Central Lancashire has made it an
disciplinary offence for any student or member of staff to have pornography on a
computer terminal and to transmit it.
In 1984 Pierce recommended street/detached youth/support work as the best way of
working with young people involved in the sex industry. The orientation of the work is
enabling young people to change and take control over their life to: "create
opportunities for the individual by manipulating the balance between available and
needed community resources" (p490). Pierce's model involves what he terms a unique
worker style which is empathetic yet aggressive in approach, where workers have to
make on the spot decisions. It is not 'non-directive', nor an assessment, but an access
model where young people at risk are actively sought out. It requires joint working
within teams of at least two and focusing on various locations where there is a street
culture. The targeting of locations can be extended as local knowledge about the places
pimps and procurers recruit from develops.
This idea of taking services to hard to reach groups/populations has some strong
support in Britain. Examples we are aware of include: SOLDIT (Streets of London