Child Criminal Exploitation (CCE)
There is currently no specific criminal offence of Child Criminal Exploitation (CCE) in Northern Ireland. However, CCE is formally recognised as a form of child abuse within statutory frameworks. The Child Criminal Exploitation Action Plan (2024) outlines a multi-agency response to prevent, identify, and address exploitation, using existing legislative powers such as the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 and the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Criminal Justice and Support for Victims) Act (Northern Ireland) 2015 *This ensures practitioners understand the legal thresholds, victim protections, and obligations under international and domestic frameworks, including proactive identification duties.
The following CCE definition was developed in consultation with children and young people and was endorsed for use in Northern Ireland by the Ministers for Education, Justice and Health in September 2024.
“Child criminal exploitation is a form of child abuse which occurs where an individual or group takes advantage of an imbalance of power to coerce, control, manipulate or deceive a child or young person under the age of 18 into any criminal activity. The exploitation may be through violence or the threat of violence but may also appear to be transactional and in the context of perceived relationships and friendships. The victim may have been criminally exploited even if the activity appears to be consensual.
Child criminal exploitation does not always involve physical contact. It can also occur through the use of technology and social media.
The criminal exploitation of children and young people can include being exploited into storing drugs or weapons, drug dealing, theft, violence, intimidation, vandalism, forced labour and other forms of criminality through grooming by people that children and young people trust or look up to”
Child Criminal Exploitation (CCE) is a complex and evolving form of abuse that often cannot be neatly categorised. Many children and young people experience exploitation along a continuum of harm, which may include criminal exploitation, sexual exploitation, and trafficking, often simultaneously.
Research by Barnardo’s NI reinforces the interconnected nature of exploitation. Their 2023 briefing paper Child Exploitation: A Hidden Crisis highlights that CCE and Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) are often closely linked, with online platforms increasingly used to groom and exploit children for both criminal and sexual purposes. This report also raises concerns that children and young people are often criminalised rather than safeguarded, particularly when exploitation is misunderstood or misidentified. This reinforces the urgent need for trauma-informed, child-centred approaches that recognises the complexity of exploitation and a need to respond with compassion, curiosity, and contextual understanding.
CCE exists on a spectrum, from opportunistic exploitation to more calculated, progressive and prolonged patterns of abuse. CCE is considered as trafficking or modern slavery when the act, means, and purpose criteria is met, for example, where a child or young person is recruited, harboured for the purpose of exploitation. Practitioners should be aware of these overlaps and refer to relevant guidance.
Children and young people are victims of CCE, particularly when their behaviours are misunderstood or misinterpreted. This highlights the importance of professional curiosity, contextual safeguarding, and trauma-informed practice that seeks to understand the child or young person’s experience rather than criminalise their actions.
By recognising the continuum of exploitation and the intentional targeting of children and young people who may be vulnerable to criminal exploitation, practitioners can respond more effectively, ensuring that safeguarding efforts are proactive, and tailored to the child’s unique context.