Our latest articles
Statement on ‘grooming gang’ comments made by the Home Secretary
As a group of Muslim and Christian leaders, we came together to set up Faiths Against Child Sexual Exploitation (FACES) in 2016. We are committed
A Muslim Parent’s View: Talking Relationships, Sex and Safeguarding with Young People
We have a narration in Islam that translates as the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, saying, “Islam began as something
Lessons from Ukraine: Refugees, Racism and Reality
This morning greeted me with the tremendous privilege of a phone call inviting me to become a referee for some Syrian refugees who are becoming
Out of the Frying Pan: Ukrainian Child Trafficking and Institutional Safeguarding
I was met with a calamitous headline from UNICEF a couple of days ago; “Ukraine war creating a child refugee every second”. Child traffickers and
Introducing Nigel Taylor
It is a tremendous privilege to join the team at FACES in October 2021 as a part-time project coordinator. I attended the launch of FACES
What faith can offer secular society
Recently we recorded a vlog that sought to answer the question, what can faith offer secular society? This is something worth spending time on as
Older articles
Statement on ‘grooming gang’ comments made by the Home Secretary
As a group of Muslim and Christian leaders, we came together to set up Faiths Against Child Sexual Exploitation (FACES) in 2016. We are committed to facing abuse where it happens in our own faith communities, facing victims instead of turning away, and facing down harmful narratives that equate any
A Muslim Parent’s View: Talking Relationships, Sex and Safeguarding with Young People
We have a narration in Islam that translates as the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, saying, “Islam began as something strange and will return as something strange as it began, so give glad tidings to the strangers.” The essence of this statement gives context to
Appropriately Exposing Evil: The IICSA Inquiry on Child Abuse in Organised Networks
The launch of a police investigation into allegations of child sexual abuse against media personality Jimmy Saville in 2012 was perhaps the pivotal point in our society really taking this issue seriously. In the years before that a growing number of allegations against media stars, sports personalities, prominent politicians, civil
Societal Attitudes toward Sexual Abuse as Portrayed Through Film and Television
This guest post is by Lizzie Bottrill, written as background to a screenplay on child sexual abuse as part of a master’s degree in Creative Writing No topic in the world seems to disturb the human heart so primally as the idea of harm being done to children. And yet,
When Religious Leaders Fall
What do we do when a highly regarded and much loved spiritual leader falls? Specifically, when they are shown to have used their power and position to sexually, physically or spiritually abuse children and young people, men and women. This is a major issue for faith groups learning to handle
The journey of restoration from child abuse
This is a guest post by Robert Lightowler from Courageous Exchange I cried when I watched the documentary. The BBC recently aired two documentaries about the sexual exploitation of young men by a bishop and by other priests called “Exposed: The Churches Darkest Secret” I cried because the abuse was
New Project Coordinator Role at FACES
Do you thrive in faith-based work and have a passion for protecting young people? We’re looking for a Project Coordinator to join our team in Luton tackling complex safeguarding issues. The right person will work on a part-time basis and support our youth and training projects as well as our
The Church’s Darkest Secret
Over the past two evenings BBC2 has broadcast a documentary on the sexual exploitation of young men by a senior church leader and a wider circle of priests. “Exposed: The Church’s Darkest Secret” tells how from the 1970s through until at least the 1990s a number of young men were
Looking back at 2019 and at the year ahead
We’ve had a truly exciting year, expanding our work in several ways and working with more people than ever. FACES started in 2016 as a call to action for local Christians and Muslims to work together and present a united voice against child sexual exploitation. We help build more resilient
Confronting prejudice to safeguard children better – January CPD training
Our next Safeguarding and Prejudice training is on 18th January 2020 – book now Prejudice exists across society. Stereotypes and social norms affect how we perceive and treat other people, including children and young people. It prevents us from creating environments that are safe for disclosure, and from recognising harm
Faith-based work in practice – #InterFaithWeek
At Faiths Against Child Sexual Exploitation, working collaboratively as Christians and Muslims is at the heart of our projects. FACES emerged from the positive interfaith and cross-community work happening in Luton; an effort of 10 local organisations including mosques, churches, Christian charities and Muslim charities. Representatives from the Luton Sunni
Training with FACES
Our training projects are aimed at people from faith communities and those working with them, helping practitioners, parents and families improve their own and their organisation’s engagement around safeguarding-related issues. Throughout September we’ve delivered training to 85 people at 5 different locations across Luton. We work to create accessible, inclusive
Online Training – Funded Places Available
As part of our Near Neighbours funded project we are running sessions across Luton for parents, guardians and people who work with children and young people to complete the NSPCC’s ‘Keeping children safe online’ online training. This usual cost of the course is £35, and we are able to provide
Dealing with Complex Social Challenges
This year we have been supported massively by the Tudor Trust, and back in June I attended a stimulating day devoted to complex social challenges that was hosted by the Tudor Trust and led by Toby Lowe from Northumbria University. The main premise of the day is in essence very
Interfaith without compromise
The way we work and relate to each other as members of the FACES team has become very natural! Addressing the horrors of sexual exploitation and challenging preconceptions based on racial and religious stereotypes and deeply established patterns of behaviour and thinking, while seeking to honour each other as deeply
The Faces We Fail to See – FACES Conference
“The things you talked about make such sense but I had never thought about them in this way. Excited about sharing with colleagues.” “It was uncomfortable at times but in a good way. It has given me much food for thought. Thank you FACES!” Our 2019 conference brought together people
The role of ethnicity, gender and faith in safeguarding
Through research, inquiries and guidance from leading charities and authorities we repeatedly learn that when it comes to safeguarding, ethnicity, gender and faith are not things that can be overlooked.
“Invitation to Brave Space” – Let’s talk about racism
I recently wrote in response to the Quilliam Foundation’s report on child sexual exploitation (CSE). I asserted then, as I continue to do so, that to racialise both victims and perpetrators of CSE is damaging and exposes all our children and young people to harm. I mentioned an encounter I
Shamima Begum: Children, Grooming and Consent
This week, the Times published an article which documented the story of Shamima Begum, one of the three 15-year-old girls from Britain who travelled together to Syria around 4 years ago. The journalist, Anthony Loyd, had traced Shamima to a refugee camp in Syria. Heavily pregnant at the time of
Forgiveness in the Context of Abuse
Child abuse is an issue in just about every community, it would seem no-one can be complacent even faith communities, even Christian faith communities to which I belong. Everyone is aware of the highly publicised cases of child sexual exploitation (CSE) that have involved Muslim perpetrators, and Christian perpetrators. These
The Best Men Can Be. Can We Have a Conversation?
A recent advert by Gillette highlighted a range of issues that have been receiving increasingly widespread attention. The ad has been met with both praise and criticism by men and women from across different social and religious representations. It includes video footage of media coverage of the #MeToo movement that
Whose Job is it to Make the Woods Safe?
We have a CD in our car, that my five-year-old requests over and over again. It’s a series of fairy-tales, and we’ve listened to them so often now that I’m getting pretty good at telling them myself – accents included. They’ve created some fun conversation about who is ‘good’, and
Surviving R. Kelly and the music industry: Where were the parents?
The recent airing of Surviving R. Kelly, a docuseries giving spotlight to alleged victims and witnesses of multiple cases of sexual abuse committed by producer and singer R. Kelly, has reignited an ongoing conversation about how girls are exploited in the music industry. Although the allegations against the self-proclaimed ‘Pied Piper’
Prejudice
I am a church leader in his 60s who is continually understanding how much he still must learn. Over the last few years I have discovered lots about prejudice, especially my own. I have become aware that our prejudices impact how we view everything, including CSE. Judgements about young victims on the basis
2019: Ambition and Sustainability
As we move into 2019 we’re excited and hopeful about the work we have planned and how it builds on what we’ve achieved in the past two and a half years. You can read more about us and our members through our website and follow the blog for regular updates.
Children spend lots of time online playing games. Can we keep them safe?
Online gaming For many children growing up today, screen time is a normal part of their week, or even part of their daily activities. Whether played through a smartphone, PC, dedicated console or other device; people in the UK spend more time gaming than anywhere else in the world. 13%
FACES in Luton: Creating a constructive approach to challenging Child Sexual Exploitation in all its forms
Recently my friend and colleague Rehana Faisal in a post ‘Name it. Shame it. Protect the children’ strongly critiqued the approach taken by Qulliam Foundation’s report “Group-Based Child Sexual Exploitation: Dissecting “Grooming Gangs”, and especially the recent attempts at defence of that report by the organisation’s chair, Maajid Nawaz. She joins
Luton Mosque raises money to tackle child sexual exploitation
Local UK Islamic Mission mosque, Madina Masjid, recently welcomed FACES member Sujel Miah to talk about our work addressing child sexual exploitation in Luton. Sujel represents Luton Council of Mosques on the FACES working group and has been instrumental in supporting our engagement work and conferences. He spoke at both
‘Name it. Shame it. Protect the children’
Maajid Nawaz, self-styled Islamic ‘reformer’ and founder of the Quilliam Foundation recently tweeted: […] Yet more ‘grooming gang’ (racially aggravated gang rape) convictions. Once again, all convicted are of my own heritage: British Pakistani Muslim. And there are more to come. Enough with the denial. Name it. Shame it. Protect
Statement on Huddersfield arrests
Faiths Against Child Sexual Exploitation Luton (FACES Luton) is deeply saddened to hear the story coming from Huddersfield involving the arrest of 31 people for offences including the rape and trafficking of five young victims. FACES Luton is a coalition of Muslims and Christians in the town that came together
#FACEit Update
Over 100 people attended our #FACEit Conference on 15th March and we would like to thank everybody who was involved. Members from local faith groups, businesses, the council, police, schools, as well as charities such as the Children’s Society and Barnardos, were represented. BBC Three Counties Radio covered the event
#FACEit Conference
FACES are pleased to announce our upcoming conference, headlined “#FACEit.” The aim of this conference is to raise awareness about our recent work, inform participants about the realities of Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) in Luton and invite partnerships that will help develop and mobilise our aims. We have an exciting
New definition and guidance
In February, the Department for Education released an updated definition of child sexual exploitation (CSE) with guidance for professionals. The University of Bedfordshire was commissioned to write the guidance that accompanies the statutory definition, and you can read it here. The new definition is as follows: Child sexual exploitation is
Boys can be victims too
This is the excerpt for a featured content post.
Launching FACES
On July 20 2016 a group of Christians and Muslims in Luton launched FACES – Faiths Against Child Sexual Exploitation. It was the first milestone in a journey where a group of us had come together to engage with one of the great scourges of our society, the sexual abuse of