City dealing with increase in child exploitation

9 hours ago

Andy GiddingsWest Midlands

The report found boys were increasingly becoming victims of child exploitation

Getty Images A boy with brown hair and a grey tshirt with his face in his hands in front of a black background — The report found boys were increasingly becoming victims of child exploitation

More children are being identified as being at risk of, or experiencing, exploitation in Wolverhampton.

A report drawn up by the city council also found types of abuse changed over the last five years, with a fall in the number of girls being sexually exploited and a rise in the number of boys being coerced into criminal activity.

Children from minority ethnic backgrounds were being disproportionately exploited, the report said.

It made a number of recommendations including extra effort to identify and help the children affected and disrupt the criminals responsible.

The council said the increase could partially be explained by improved monitoring and quicker identification of victims.

Its data showed the number of young people supported by its child exploitation team rising from 91 in 2021 to 165 in 2025 - an increase of 81%.

The data also showed the number of children identified as victims of organised sexual grooming (known as Child Sexual Exploitation or CSE) fell by 36% in that same period, from 149 in 2021 to 95 in 2025.

At the same time the number of children coerced into criminal activity (known as Child Criminal Exploitation or CCE) rose by 10% from 178 in 2021 to 195 in 2025.

It said this pattern broadly aligns with national data.

The report also looked at the data from 2025 and found a disproportionate number of children from black or mixed minority ethnic backgrounds were becoming victims.

The average age of the victims has remained at 14 years, the report said, but boys now make up 62% of the children receiving help.

In its conclusions, the council report said a number of factors could put children at higher risk, including deprivation, neurodiversity, domestic abuse and neglect.

Alongside this, adult exploitation was becoming more visible, it said, particularly financial exploitation and the offence known as 'cuckooing', when criminals will exploit vulnerable people to use their homes or property for criminal activity.

The report said there was evidence the city's multi-agency response was proving effective, but demand for its support services was rising and the criminal activity was evolving.

That would "continue to place pressure on system capacity," it said.

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