“We just want a sleepover”: Exploring Young People’s Perceptions of Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Exploitation in Residential Care

This PhD research is a critical examination of institutional responses to young people in residential care who have experienced or been exposed to child sexual exploitation (CSE) in NSW, Australia. Grounded in a feminist and child rights framework, the research presented in this thesis explores young people in residential care’s perceptions of how front-line professionals, including police, respond to them. Further, the research has examined the current nature of responses to young people at risk of CSE through interviews with NSW police officers. It is argued that systemic factors within the out-of-home-care system, including institutional constraint, systemic neglect, stigmatisation and criminalisation contribute to risk of CSE for young people in care. Drawing on qualitative interviews with young people and police officers, the research has reconceptualised traditional push and pull models of CSE by centring young people’s voices. A heuristic model, “The Predatory Pathway” is proposed that suggests that young people’s unmet needs for agency, connection, and belonging in residential care are leveraged by perpetrators to exploit them. Through this reconceptualisation, the thesis challenges victim-blaming narratives and calls for systemic reform within the child protection and law enforcement systems, toward more trauma-informed and rights-based approaches that prioritise young people’s voices to better support their safety and wellbeing.