Overview
The study draws on qualitative and quantitative data, including interviews with 27 young people with learning disabilities (aged 12–23) and surveys across local authorities, health and social care trusts, and specialist services.
Key findings from the report include:
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Vulnerability Factors: Factors such as overprotection, social isolation, society’s failure to recognize disabled youth as sexual beings, and a lack of accessible sex and relationships education significantly increase vulnerability to CSE.
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Systemic & Policy Gaps: Multi-agency arrangements frequently fail to explicitly account for young people with learning disabilities. Additionally, young adults turning 18 face risks of falling through the gap between children’s and adults’ social services.
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Identification & Diagnosis Issues: Many individuals do not meet high eligibility thresholds for learning disability services despite having clear unmet needs. Unassessed or undiagnosed learning needs impair both protection and effective service provision.
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Barriers to Disclosure: Young people often struggle to disclose CSE due to lack of understanding, fear of consequences, negative responses from professionals, or lack of a trusted adult relationship.
Key Recommendations
The report sets out several primary recommendations to improve safeguards and responses:
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Policy & Guidance Revision: Update statutory guidance under the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 to explicitly integrate CSE prevention, vulnerability, and individual support needs for young people with learning disabilities.
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Multi-Agency Leadership: Require Regional Safeguarding Children Boards and key agencies to designate strategic and operational CSE leads for disabled children and young people.
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Accessible Education & Prevention: Ensure all schools deliver accessible, high-quality sex and relationships education—including online safety and consent—and embed safety information into individual education and care plans.
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Professional Training: Include learning disability and CSE as core topics in pre-qualification curricula, inductions, and ongoing multi-agency training for health, social care, education, and criminal justice professionals.
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Inspection & Awareness: Incorporate a specific focus on learning disabilities in regulatory agency inspections and run national/regional awareness campaigns.
Conclusion
Young people with learning disabilities face heightened risks of CSE alongside distinct structural and societal barriers. Without coordinated action across policy, education, and social care, their experiences of exploitation will remain invisible. Implementing the report’s recommendations in combination offers a pathway toward effective, sustainable safeguarding and improved outcomes for vulnerable young people in Wales.