Fear that children in Irish care being sexually exploited

There is concern among social care professionals that children in the Irish system are being sexually exploited.

“Given the known levels of sexual exploitation of children in care in the North, England, Scotland and Wales, it would be naive and dangerous to think we don’t have similar problems, in this regard, in the Republic,” Maurice Fenton, academic and social care professional, told the Irish Examiner.

His comments came on the first day of the Social Care Ireland (SCI) conference, where a special workshop on ‘Recognising and Responding to Sexual Exploitation of Vulnerable Young People’ was held. The incidences of exploitation are a result of sexual predators, outside the system, targeting vulnerable young people.