The Children Abused Through Sexual Exploitation (CATSE) project was a partnership response and intervention developed to assist the many young runaways in the London borough of Camden. Setting up a program such as the CATSE presented a number of challenges. Operationally, practitioners struggled with the clouded boundaries between adolescent sexual exploration and adult sexual activity, the uncertainty of evidence, and the fear of stigmatizing the young person. It is too early to state definitely to what extent statutory intervention has made a difference. However, what can be said is that children are talking about their abusive experiences and some have made statements to the police. The CATSE project was established in 1999 to address the victims of child sexual exploitation that were going unidentified in Camden. In addition, the analysis of concern and focus of intervention seemed to fall within the family, obscuring the often dangerous relationships and situations children and young people found themselves in outside of the family. A more targeted and specific protocol was seen as necessary for identifying and working with sexually exploited children, hence, the development of the CATSE project. A multiagency steering group was setup and tasked with the formulation of a local procedure aimed at responding to these children and young people. The commitment made on the part of all agencies involved in this partnership response included: recognizing the problem, treating the child primarily as a victim of abuse, safeguarding children and promoting their welfare, working together to prevent abuses and provide children with opportunities and strategies to recover from their experience of sexual exploitation, and investigating and prosecuting those who groom, coerce, and abuse children through sexual exploitation. References