Zara

“We always used to hang around at the bus shelter after school. That’s where I met Josh. He was my friend’s older cousin – he regularly bought us alcohol, it felt like he was a good guy, doing us favours because we couldn’t get served.

One day, he asked me to drop a bag off at his mate’s house. I didn’t know there were drugs inside. When my mum found the bag and got rid of everything, Josh said I owed him for what she had flushed.

After that, things changed. He hurt me and told me I had to “work off” the debt. I stopped arguing and just did what I was told because I was scared of what would happen if I didn’t. The assaults became regular, sometimes involving his friends.

I became withdrawn, angry and got into more trouble. Looking back, people probably just saw a teenager drinking, hanging around and causing problems. What they didn’t see was how scared, trapped and alone I felt.”

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Hanging out, or being targeted? For Zara, both things were true. She was hanging out with who she thought was a friend, but this adult specifically targeted her because she was a child who he could control for his own gains. She was groomed with what she was told was free alcohol. She was then coerced into carrying drugs, after being tricked into believing she had a debt to repay. What might appear as nuisance behaviour: loitering at bus stops, drinking together with friends, enabled her exploitation to remain hidden in plain sight.

Our campaign encourages everyone to learn how children are being exploited, so you that you might see where an exploited child could be hidden beyond the behaviour.

Our free Community Guardian programme will give you the skills and confidence to understand the tactics exploiters are using, and how to seek support for children at risk.