NWG Programme of Learning and Development - growing understanding and responses
9 - 13 May 2022, Virtual Event
Speakers on Tuesday 10th May 2022
Professor Nuria Lorenzo-Dus
Nuria is Professor of Linguistics and Digital Communication at Swansea University.[2] Nuria is the author of several books and over seventy journal articles and book chapters and has held visiting research positions in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, New Zealand, Spain and the USA. Her research examines interpersonal and intergroup communication in cyber-crime contexts, with a particular focus on child sexual grooming and ideological extremism. Her research has attracted substantial research funding and features extensive collaboration with academic teams and leading stakeholder groups worldwide. Nuria's latest initiative is Project DRAGON-S.
Presentation Title: Project DRAGON-S (Developing Resistance Against Grooming Online- Spot and Shield)
Every 30 seconds a child makes their first click online, and the internet offers each and every one of these children great opportunities to learn, to connect with others, and so much more. Unfortunately, the internet also has a dark side. At any one time, c. 750,000 individuals are looking to connect with children online for sex.[1] Online groomers use language and other communicative means, such as images, to exploit children’s wonderful sociability, kind-heartedness, and curiosity. Headquartered in Wales, and with partners in Australia, Canada, France, New Zealand, UK and the USA, Project DRAGON-S (Developing Resistance Against Grooming Online – Spotter & Shield) leads global efforts to protect our children from this abhorrent form of abuse. We bring together state-of-the-art research to produce free-to-use technology to counter online grooming.
Our Spotter Tool assists law enforcement’s online grooming detection work. It integrates Linguistics and AI to identify online grooming text-based content, pinpointing the manipulative language tactics that groomers use, from making children feel emotionally isolated to communicating sexual intent implicitly and explicitly to them. Our Shield Tool is a digital training portal that relays specialist knowledge to child safeguarding practitioners about groomers’ language tactics and children’s communicative behaviours during online grooming. The Shield tool strengthens practitioners’ ability to prevent children from being sexually groomed online.
During this presentation, we will firstly describe how online grooming communication works, from a groomer and child perspective. We will then offer a video demonstration of our tools. Thirdly, we will discuss our technology co-creation ethos, with a focus on collaboration with end-user (practitioners in child safeguarding roles, including from education, law enforcement, social work and the third sector) and lived experience groups.
Nigel Jones
Nigel is an ex senior Police Officer with over thirty-three years varied experience in demanding roles engaging at a local force, regional and national level, now utilising that experience and skills to coordinate, support and constantly improve service delivery to exploited young people across Warwickshire.
Since 2012, Nigel has led on development and delivery of the service response to Child Exploitation & Missing Children across Warwickshire and West Mercia within his roles in the Police and from 2018 Warwickshire County Council, working across the partnership and to the Safeguarding Board. Utilising his 19 years’ experience in leading delivery of services and specialist teams across all aspects of Protecting Vulnerable People, Nigel has worked to strengthen the multi-agency team response to meet the service needs of exploited young people and be effective in improving outcomes.
Presentation Title: The benefits of a health practitioner in a multi-agency team tackling child exploitation
This session will set out the case for a Health role within a multi-agency response to Child Exploitation. We will outline the journey to securing the post in Warwickshire, overcoming the challenges and barriers during implementation, and the main tasks and responsibilities of the Child Exploitation Specialist Nurse.
We will share examples of the difference made to the young people receiving the service and the overall impact to our approach regarding benefits secured.
The session will provide examples of how building strong working relationships across the multiagency team has created a robust pathway for young people to access much needed health support, including enhancing information sharing from and across the health economy. We will also share experiences of developing and delivering bespoke training to raise awareness to all health professionals as an essential need.
Katie Vaughan
I am the Child Exploitation Specialist Nurse located within Warwickshire Child Exploitation team. I completed my Specialist Community Public Health Nursing Degree to compliment the work I undertake in the children and family arena. I have a strong passion for safeguarding and I have been active in my role as the CE nurse since January 2021. The CE Nurse role is a development post which was implemented to highlight and demonstrate the importance of addressing the health needs of children who have been exploited or are vulnerable to exploitation.
I work on active cases alongside a multi-disciplinary team to identify health needs of Exploited Children and Young People and address them at earliest opportunity.Within my role, I complete assessments and psychosocial brief interventions and support young people to access health services which they otherwise may not have accessed without intensive support. I provide specialist expertise to the School Health and Wellbeing Service and other health professionals, developing good practice and delivering training and consultations across Warwickshire’s health economy.
I work closely with the multi-agency team to strengthen integrated referral and information sharing pathways between health and children services and provide guidance and support to health practitioners. I raise awareness within the health arena to develop essential skills to identify and take appropriate action for children and young people who are victims of or at risk of exploitation.
Presentation Title: The benefits of a health practitioner in a multi-agency team tackling child exploitation
Joint presentation with Nigel Jones
Susie Hargreaves
Susie Hargreaves joined the IWF in 2011 as CEO. She is a Director of the UK Safer Internet Centre, a member of the National Crime Agency (NCA CEOP )Strategic Governance Group and an Executive Board Member of the UK Council for Internet Safety (UKCCIS). Outside the UK, Susie is a Member of the World Economic Forum Global Coalition for Digital Safety, the International Justice Mission (IJM) Advisory Board and member of the ‘Together to #ENDviolence: Leaders’ Group’. Susie was a founder Board Member of the WePROTECT Global Alliance. In 2016, Susie was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for Services to Child Online Protection.
Presentation title: Tackling Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse
Kevin Murphy
Kevin has worked within the children’s workforce in a number of roles for a significant number of years. He has been a front line practitioner and worked his way up through the ranks to become an operational manager and finally was a Head of Service for a local authority children’s services department.
Kevin has a wealth of experience working with vulnerable children and their families and he has a unique perspective and understanding of special educational needs and disability (SEND).
Presentation Title: Safeguarding in Sport – Work in Progress
Joint presentation with Jo Aldridge
NWG colleagues Kevin
Murphy and Jo Aldridge will discuss their ongoing work across the sport sector
and how it can benefit the conference audience as professionals and also as
parents of children taking part in sport.
Jo Aldridge
Jo has worked in National Governing Bodies of sport, sport business and governance for over 15 years. Initially setting up the project in 2018, Jo has worked with Sport England ever since to Project Manager the Safeguarding Code in Martial Arts. The scheme, hosted within NWG Network, supports the unregulated sector of martial arts with safeguarding support and helps clubs and organisations demonstrate their good safeguarding standards to parents, carers, school and leisure establishments.
Jo has been a part of management teams within British Athletics and British Dressage. She set up and ran a men’s professional basketball team in the British Basketball League and was previously shareholder/ Director in a sport business consultancy helping her to understand the structure and governance of sport in the UK, the importance of sport volunteers and how a positive experience in sport can transform lives.
Presentation Title: Safeguarding in Sport – Work in Progress
Joint presentation with Kevin Murphy
NWG Programme of Learning and Development funded by: