A HARD hitting play about grooming and child sexual exploitation, performed to thousands of Bradford teens, led to 12 young people coming forward to report they had been victims, or knew someone who had.

'Somebody's Sister, Somebody's Daughter' had been commissioned by Bradford Council as part of a district-wide, multi-agency strategy to tackle child sexual exploitation.

GW Theatre group has performed the play 48 times to over 6,000 children aged 14 and 15 in schools and community centres across the district.

It tells the story of a 15-year-old girl caught up in the web of a grooming gang, and was written to raise awareness of sexual exploitation in an age group that may often confuse it with love or affection.

TACKLING CHILD EXPLOITATION STEP BY STEP

A questionnaire handed out to students after the performances revealed that just 58 per cent of the teens knew what was meant by sexual exploitation, but after seeing the play 100 per cent felt they could now recognise the signs of exploitation and street grooming.

The play was part of a £250,000 initiative by Bradford Council to raise awareness of sexual exploitation, with other projects including a partnership with Barnardos to raise awareness among boys, and work with Parents Against Child Exploitation to support parents of children experiencing or at risk of grooming.

The council will team up with Calderdale Council to commission the theatre group to create a separate play for younger children on issues like online safety and self esteem.

Councillor David Green, Leader of Bradford Council, said: "I am extremely impressed that a theatre production could have made such an impression on the young people who saw it.

"Child sexual exploitation is a despicable crime and we must do as much as we can to raise awareness and try to prevent it claiming any more victims."

Superintendent Vince Firth, of Bradford District Police, said: "We are always looking for innovative ways to raise awareness of child sexual exploitation and how to report it.

MORE TOP STORIES

"t is encouraging that a number of young people have come forward either to report potential offences to us or to seek support or advice following these theatre productions. This is a great example of partnership working towards our ultimate aim of keeping children safe."

The Child Sexual Exploitation hub, made up of representatives from Bradford Council, West Yorkshire Police and local youth organisations and charities, are dealing with all 12 cases, and have given "appropriate support" to the young people who came forward.

Dave Jones, Creative Director of GW Theatre Company, said: "This was a bold CSE prevention project designed specifically to engage with young people and led from the very top by Bradford Council. It demonstrates clearly the success which can be achieved when the local safeguarding children board puts young people first in a partnership with schools, the CSE Hub, police, youth workers and other key professionals.

"Over 6,000 people saw the play, which was supported by resources partly developed by Bradford young people. We are proud to have led this work with our theatre production which has raised awareness and knowledge amongst young people to keep them safer from CSE."