Greater Manchester Police and other agencies across the region joined forces to to learn best practice approaches to tackling child exploitation. The event - which was co-ordinated by Greater Manchester’s Complex Safeguarding Hub in partnership with GMP, Programme Challenger, and the Greater Manchester Violence Reduction Unit - provided an opportunity to equip multi-agency frontline professionals with the skills needed to support complex safeguarding teams. Key areas of focus included early identification, information sharing, safeguarding, and coordinated multi-agency disruption.
The event was one of four arranged to launch the Greater Manchester Complex Safeguarding Strategy, with further events scheduled next. A wide range of exploitation-related topics were addressed, such as neurodiversity, trauma, child-centred approaches, lived experiences, online harms, identity issues, and the intersection of child criminal and sexual exploitation, including the role of girls in county lines. Detective Superintendent Joseph Harrop, Head of Serious and Organised Crime, Greater Manchester Police , said: “The event aimed to enhance collaboration across Greater Manchester in addressing child exploitation , raising awareness of the associated risks, challenging conventional approaches, and identifying best practices and opportunities for mutual learning.
“By bringing together experts who are committed to protecting children, we are developing solutions that will strengthen the colle.