Michelle McManus

Professor Michelle McManus is Professor of Safeguarding and Violence Prevention and Director of the Institute for Children's Futures at Manchester Metropolitan University. She is an internationally recognised expert in safeguarding, child exploitation and violence prevention, with more than 20 years' experience across policing, criminal justice and academia.

Her research focuses on improving how agencies identify, assess and respond to risks affecting children, young people and adults, including child sexual abuse and exploitation (CSAE), child criminal exploitation (CCE), county lines, domestic abuse, serious violence, online harms and multi-agency safeguarding. She has led research and evaluation programmes for the Department for Education, Home Office, Welsh Government, police forces, local authorities and third-sector organisations.

Michelle recently led national research for the Department for Education examining the identification and recording of child sexual abuse and exploitation within children's social care and serious incident systems. Her wider work has informed national policy and practice on child exploitation, county lines, domestic abuse and safeguarding system reform. She contributed to the Home Office statutory guidance Criminal Exploitation of Children and Vulnerable Adults: County Lines and regularly advises government, policing and safeguarding partners on policy development and implementation.

She has also led national work exploring the development of Independent Child Exploitation Advocates (ICEAs), a proposed specialist advocacy model designed to strengthen support, representation and continuity for children experiencing exploitation across complex safeguarding, criminal justice and care systems. This work has brought together policymakers, practitioners, specialist services and lived experience perspectives to consider how advocacy and trusted relationships can be strengthened for children affected by exploitation.

She is currently servicing as Special Adviser to the House of Lords Committee undertaking post-legislative scrutiny of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 and has provided evidence to parliamentary inquiries on violence against women and girls, children's social care, modern slavery and child exploitation.

Michelle co-created the Kent Internet Risk Assessment Tool (KIRAT), an internationally recognised intelligence tool used by law enforcement agencies to identify individuals most likely to be sexually abusing children. KIRAT is used across the UK and internationally, including throughout Europe, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

She also leads a strategic partnership with the National Independent Safeguarding Board Wales, supporting safeguarding improvement and system reform across Wales.