Exploitation - essentially the use of power and / control by one person to unfair advantage over another person - is not a specific category of abuse but can and will feature in a wide variety of abusive, neglectful or harmful situations.

For the person being exploited, it can mean they are being forced or coerced into doing something which is for another person's gain.

Not everyone who experiences exploitation will have care and support needs, so they will not always come under statutory safeguarding duties (section 42 Care Act).

But they may still need support to feel or live safely, to have their human rights protected.

To understand more about exploitation, you can access free online training from our training page. There is e-learning which covers adult and children and more in-depth training covering safeguarding and adult exploitation. 

You can explore it in the context of different types of abuse, such as  sexual abuse, domestic abuse, financial abuse.

We are aware that one of the fastest growing areas of labour exploitation is within the care sector - see our pages on modern slavery for more information, how to spot the signs, what to do and links to the data.

Watch and use our short animation, which considers mate crime, cuckooing and other forms of exploitation too.

'Tricky Friends' animation 

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Norfolk exploitation group

In Norfolk there is a multi-agency group dedicated to exploitation, which sits under the Community Safety partnership, and has a subgroup which focuses on cuckooing too. They have developed a website specifically to raise awareness of, and to respond to, exploitation in its many forms.

You can find it here:

Norfolk - Know the Signs                 

 Exploitation Awareness Campaign June 2025

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Leeds University has developed a professional toolkit to improve awareness of cuckooing victimisation, encourage professional and public curiosity, and improve reporting and intervention, with a range of useful material and tools - you can access it here:

Toolkit for Preventing and Disrupting Cuckooing Victimisation

They also have these more focused posters to help recognise signs of cuckooing, developed for professionals who enter vulnerable people's homes, or who engage with vulnerable people on a regular basis. Each poster is aimed at a specific potential audience including:

• Medical Professionals
• NHS Community Staff, Opticians, Audiologists
• Fire and Rescue, Housing Officers
• Utility Meter Readers; Housing Maintenance Professionals

Cuckooing awareness posters

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2025 - New legislation around cuckooing offences

The government is creating a new bespoke criminal offence to tackle the practice known as ‘cuckooing’ (home takeover), whereby criminals take control over the home of another person to use it for criminal activity. 

The bill will make it an offence to exercise control over another person’s dwelling without their consent for the purpose of enabling the dwelling to be used in connection with the commission of specified criminal activity. 

The specified criminal activity includes the types of criminal activity that cuckooing is typically used to facilitate, for example, drugs offences, sexual offences and offensive weapons offences. The bill provides for a power for the Secretary of State to amend the list of specified offences to future-proof this new offence against exploitative criminals who might adapt cuckooing to other crime types. 

It will be an offence to control a person’s dwelling in connection with criminal activity without that person’s consent. A person cannot consent to control of their dwelling if: they are under 18 years old; do not have capacity to give consent; have not been given sufficient information to enable them to make an informed decision; have not given consent freely; or have withdrawn their consent. The consent of an occupant may not freely be given where it is obtained by coercion, deception or other forms of abusive behaviour. 

The offence will carry a maximum penalty on indictment of five years’ imprisonment or a fine (or both). 

To support implementation of the offence and strengthen the wider response to cuckooing, the government will publish guidance for police and other operational partners. The guidance will help improve identification of cuckooing and support professionals to take effective action against perpetrators and identify the best pathways to support and safeguard victims. 

As with the child criminal exploitation offence, the bill will also add the cuckooing offence to the list of ‘criminal lifestyle offences’ in Schedule 2 to the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, as well as ensuring that victims are automatically eligible for “special measures” when giving evidence in court proceedings relating to the cuckooing offence.

Read more here: Child criminal exploitation and Cuckooing Offence factsheet

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Exploitation risk checker - a self-assessment tool - Causeway, 2025

Developed in partnership with survivors of exploitation and modern slavery, this tool allows people to answer a series of questions to see if they may be experiencing, or at risk of, criminal or sexual exploitation.

Exploitation Risk Checker 

Hampshire SAR Katie, James and Luke

In July 2024 the Hampshire Safeguarding Adults Board (HSAB) published an independent thematic Safeguarding Adults Review (SAR) into the circumstances surrounding three individuals who have sadly died in separate instances, where each experienced cuckooing and exploitation.

You can read it here: SAR Katie, James and Luke