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When women involved in prostitution experience multiple and intersecting needs, they may face barriers in accessing help and support. These barriers can include geographical location and opening hours of agencies, limited childcare support, and a lack of female-only provision. As a result, women are frequently disadvantaged, and their personal safety put at risk, as they become increasingly vulnerable to exploitation, particularly if they do not have access to secure accommodation. This research project seeks to understand the choices and decisions women make when they engage with helping services. The findings report on an in-depth qualitative study with 11 women involved in, or at risk of involvement in, prostitution. The women attended a third sector drop-in centre in an English city. Semi-structured interviews were used to understand the experiences that led participants to seek support and what they liked or did not like about helping services. Interviews were transcribed and analysed using Bacchi's (1999) 'What is the problem?' approach in order to understand how women framed their experiences, as well as how they negotiated service provision. Women's decisions to use services were shaped by a number of factors, including knowledge, availability, suitability, and assessment of caregivers' behaviour. The way caregivers behaved was important in determining whether they could be trusted. A dissonance emerged between the framing of women's needs by policy and services, and women's lived experiences. This mismatch led to a complex network of support services that were both difficult for women to access and often failed to meet their needs. It is vital that social care services and training providers pay attention to the interactions between caregivers and women seeking help and support. A model is presented to reflect the decisions and choices made by women when seeking help and support, and the associated responses required by policy, service commissioners and providers.

In the United Kingdom, as in many other countries, New Labour governments have heavily promoted different forms of 'service-user involvement' in decision making about public services. The current orthodoxy would appear to be that involvement activities carry with them de facto benefits that are both affirmative and empowering. However, relatively little research has been carried out into considering the real impact (emotional or otherwise) of involving citizens in such processes. In this paper, the findings from a small-scale qualitative study led the authors to reflect that when outcomes of consultation are undesired and that when the precise role of those involved is left unclear in terms of purpose, responsibility and accountability, people can be left with powerful, often uncomfortable, feelings. The ethical dimensions of involving people without adequate, prior preparation or ongoing support are discussed, with suggestions made as to how public organisations can take an ethically sound approach to participation. Drawing on research ethics, and informed by the ethics of care, methods through which the potentially harmful effects of involvement can be mitigated are proposed.

AbstractStreet trading is an under‐researched form of child labour. This study explores experiences of children aged 10–15 in Nigeria, using interviews and focus groups. Children largely accepted the need to contribute economically to the family, as well as their own school expenses. Trading was demanding, and there were hidden costs, such as reduced school attendance, but an emphasis on obedience made challenge difficult. Children felt resistance, but knowledge of their rights did not support acting on these feelings. Accounts demonstrated the difficulties of living at the intersection of competing constructions of childhood.

Young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) are a focus of government attention in the UK. For social service professionals the mechanisms underpinning the individual experience of NEET are critical to designing effective interventions. International comparisons point to similar experiences at the level of the individual family. This article examines the factors that may contribute to a young person becoming NEET and applies these to the demographics of a rural area in England. Poor educational attainment and low socio-economic status are key factors, with the mental well-being of young people as a proposed underpinning mechanism.