 Barnardo's says support may help stop children being exploited |
Children's charity Barnardo's has called for a network of services to help children who have been sexually exploited or groomed for prostitution. Publishing the first UK study into child prostitution, it called for more government funding and for child protection to be a policing priority.
The charity also said many vulnerable children were "very disengaged from mainstream services" such as schools.
The government said child protection remained a "top priority".
The Barnardo's study found that young people who came into contact with the charity had often been abused or neglected, but with intensive support the chances of them being further exploited could be reduced.
It identified several risk factors associated with sexual exploitation, including poor relationships with parents or carers, going missing, disengagement from education and a lack of awareness of rights.
 |  We know there are many children, in many towns and cities, who are not helped |
Pam Hibbert, principal policy officer at the children's charity, told BBC News that many vulnerable youngsters had become cut off from schools, health and youth services.
"They may need stable and safe accommodation, they may need good healthcare, and we spend a lot of our time seeking money to keep the projects going," she said.
Barnardo's says it spends �1.6m a year of its voluntary funds on helping more than 2,000 sexually-exploited children and young people - but says there are still more needing help.
The charity said the government has prioritised protective and preventative work with children in the Prostitution Strategy for England and Wales, announced in January.
However, it says provision of specialist services is patchy and getting help depends more on location.
Barnardo's chief executive Martin Narey said: "We now know we can help children and young people escape from sexual exploitation by adults.
"But we know there are many children, in many towns and cities, who are not helped."
He said the charity will continue to spend a substantial part of its money on this "difficult but worthwhile work", but added "we cannot do it alone".
Work valued
The charity wants to see a network of community-based services for those who have been sexually-exploited.
It also called for the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) to ensure protective and preventative work was undertaken.
A DfES spokesman said preventing the exploitation of children remained a "top priority".
"We value the work done by Barnardo's in this field and any addition to our knowledge about how to protect young people from this sort of harm is welcome," he said.
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