Strengthening Systems Responses to Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) with Professor Carlene Firmin

In conjunction with the OPEN Expansion project, we are pleased to invite you to join us to hear from Professor Carlene Firmin on Strengthening Systems Responses to Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE), including lessons from the UK on what does and doesn't work.

Carlene Firmin is a Professor of Social Work and Director of the Global Centre for Contextual Safeguarding at Durham University. Carlene has researched young people’s experiences of community and group-based violence since 2008 and has advocated for comprehensive approaches that keep them safe in public places, schools, and peer groups.

She has a vision for improving safeguarding responses to young people at risk of harm beyond their family homes. She has overseen a research programme to convert this vision into a conceptual and practice framework, in order to reform safeguarding responses and policy frameworks concerned with extra-familial harm, including child sexual exploitation, child criminal exploitation and peer-abuse, in the UK and internationally. Working with experts in child protection law, public health, criminology, psychology and education to develop multi-disciplinary, she has used research to change how safeguarding systems respond when young people come to harm. 

Carlene will speak to the work she has conducted on CSE followed by a guest panel discussion reflecting on system enablers and barriers from a Victorian context.

Our guest panellists will include Dr Robyn Miller, CEO MacKillop Family Services, Sharon McKinnon, Victoria Police, Commander Western Region, Aaron Wallace-Peters, Principal Practitioner, Practice & Evidence Development Division VACCA and Sonya Ryan OAM, CEO of the Carly Ryan Foundation.

OPEN Expansion is a collaborative project funded by Family Safety Victoria, bringing together peak bodies -  The Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare (CFECFW), No to Violence (NTV), Safe and Equal (SaE) and Sexual Assault Services Victoria (SASVic)  - to work closely to identify research, data gaps, workforce needs and collaborate on knowledge translation to develop innovative responses to address these needs. The Family Violence Sexual Violence Knowledge Hub is a key outcome of the collaborative project.

MacKillop Family Services - https://www.mackillop.org.au/

VACCA - https://www.vacca.org/

The Carly Ryan Foundation - https://www.carlyryanfoundation.com/sonya-ryan

Victoria Police - https://www.police.vic.gov.au/