Naming the Harm
For too long, we have accepted a system that finds it easier to criminalise children than to protect them. Children who are groomed, coerced, and controlled into offending are routinely treated not as victims of harm, but as the harm itself. This is not an unintended consequence of safeguarding—it is a profound institutional failure. When exploitation is met with punishment rather than protection, the damage does not end with the abuse; it is compounded by criminal records that shape the rest of a child’s life. Ending Coercive Offending exists to name this harm clearly and to challenge the systems that allow it to continue.
A Critical Gap
Despite a long-term decline in youth offending in the UK, thousands of children are now being recognised as potential victims of criminal exploitation rather than traditional offenders. However, a critical gap in our national evidence base undermines transparency and accountability: there is currently no published data showing how many of these identified victims go on to be charged or prosecuted. Without this information, we cannot assess whether statutory duties to protect exploited children are being upheld or whether they continue to be drawn into punitive systems. This gap in data and accountability is exactly why Ending Coercive Offending was established — to ensure exploited children are protected and never criminalised.