There is growing recognition that girls and young women affected by violence and exploitation are not always well considered within existing frameworks for assessing risk and needs.

Research in Practice, University of Lancashire and Abianda are excited to invite professionals across London to be part of an important opportunity to help improve how we identify and respond to risks and harms experienced by girls and young women.

We are hosting an online consultation on 6 July from 10am to 12pm, bringing together those working across sectors to share insight and help shape future practice.

The consultation will provide valuable insight into the development of a new Risk and Needs Framework, commissioned by the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC).

Existing frameworks have often been designed for boys and young men. This can mean the experiences of girls and young women are overlooked or misunderstood, and responses don’t always reflect the nature of the harm they face. For many of us working in this space, this won’t feel new.

Despite the best efforts of professionals, too often this work is constrained by systems that weren’t designed with the experiences of girls and young women in mind. MOPAC wants to change this, by enabling a more fit-for-purpose approach that recognises the needs of girls and young women and can help to ensure they receive the right support.

This project aims to better understand how current risk and needs frameworks are working in practice, explore both challenges and good practice, and consider how they can be strengthened to better reflect the realities of girls and young women’s lives. With the help of sector colleagues, we will be developing a practical, accessible resource for professionals across safeguarding systems to improve how they identify and respond to risks, needs and harms facing girls and young women affected by violence and exploitation.

This is where your input matters. We are keen to hear from London-based professionals who work with or support girls and young women, across social care, health, policing, youth justice, education, youth work, and the voluntary and community sector. We welcome contributions from those in direct roles, operational management and strategic leadership. Your perspective is invaluable.

The online session on 6 July is a space to share what you’re seeing in practice, what’s working, where the challenges are, and what needs to change. Your insight will directly inform the development of the resource, helping to ensure they are grounded in real-world experience.

Participants will also be invited to a follow-up consultation later in the year, where we will share what we’ve learned and test emerging ideas and resources. This second stage is an important opportunity to shape and refine the outputs so they are practical, relevant and genuinely useful for those working with girls and young women.

This is an exciting opportunity to influence how systems better recognise and respond to the needs of girls and young women affected by violence and exploitation.