Healthy relationships

Social Services may be able to support you if you face challenges with health needs, family difficulties or problems at home.

There are a number of reasons you or an adult you know may need support including:

• Disability, learning difficulty or mental health issues
• Hearing or visual impairments
• Respite care or caring for an adult
• Difficulties in managing at home
• Family difficulties
• Help or alcohol abuse

If you are worried that an adult is at risk of immediate harm then call 999. If you think that an adult is being harmed or is at risk of being harmed by someone else or is neglecting themselves. If you are worried that a vulnerable adult is living in circumstances (at home or in care) where they are being treated badly or neglected, you can ring the Social Services for the area where the adult lives who needs help or support.

If you believe that a child or young person is at immediate risk, you should report this without delay to the police service on 999. It is the Police’s job to protect you from harm and stop crimes being committed against you or other children.

If you are a child who is suffering from harm, neglect or abuse or are worried that another child may be suffering you can:

Talk to someone outside your family that you trust like a teacher, school nurse, police officer or other person in authority.

Contact Children’s Social Care for the area in which you live and speak to someone. A Social Worker works for the government and their job is to help you if you need to be protected from harm.

Careline Liverpool Children’s Services

0151 233 3700

Knowsley Children’s Services

0151 443 2600

More information can be found at:

What is child exploitation?

Child exploitation (CE) is a type of abuse that can be sexual or criminal.

When a child or young person is exploited, they're given things, like gifts, drugs, money, status and affection, in exchange for performing sexual activities. Children and young people are often tricked into believing they're in a loving and consensual relationship. This is called grooming. They may trust their abuser and not understand that they're being abused.

Children and young people can be trafficked into or within the UK to be sexually exploited. They're moved around the country and abused by being forced to take part in sexual activities, often with more than one person. Young people in gangs can also be sexually exploited.

Sometimes abusers use violence and intimidation to frighten or force a child or young person, making them feel as if they've no choice. They may lend them large sums of money they know can't be repaid or use financial abuse to control them. (NSPCC)

Children and young people can also be exploited online and asked to send indecent images of themselves, these can then be used to intimidate a young person or shared

Anybody can be a perpetrator of CSE, no matter their age, gender or race. The relationship could be framed as friendship, someone to look up to or romantic.

Children and young people who are exploited may also be used to 'find' or coerce others to join groups, such a criminal gangs or used to traffic drugs or become drug runners.

Further support

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is domestic violence by a current or former spouse or partner in an intimate relationship against the other spouse or partner. It may occur between heterosexual or homosexual couples and victims can be male or female. Couples may be dating, living together or married and violence can occur in or outside of the home.

Intimate partner violence can take a number of forms including physical, emotional, verbal, economic and sexual abuse.

The most common but less injurious form of intimate partner violence is situational couple violence (also known as situational violence), which is conducted by individuals of both genders nearly equally, and is more likely to occur among younger couples, including adolescents and those of college and University age.

Further support