What happens when love is used as leverage?

This 90-minute fast-paced session unpacks the hidden ways that intimate and romantic relationships are weaponised to exploit young people in the context of child criminal exploitation (CCE). Blending real-world cases, practitioner insights, and trauma-informed theory, we’ll explore the blurred lines between consent, coercion, and control, and how emotional ties can become traps.

Learning objectives

• Recognise how intimate or romantic relationships can be used as tools for control within child criminal exploitation (CCE)
• Identify early warning signs of coercion, emotional manipulation, and relational grooming
• Understand the emotional and psychological impact on young people who are exploited through people they trust or love
• Apply trauma-informed curiosity to safely explore concerns in practice
• Gain insight into gender dynamics and how power shows up differently in young people’s relationships

What to expect

• An engaging and reflective space that equips professionals to better identify the early signs of relational exploitation
• Understand the emotional pull of manipulation
• Develop stronger, safer responses.

This session will be led by Junior Smart.