Children in Croydon are being sexually exploited by other young people in sometimes violent "peer-on-peer abuse", youth workers have warned.

The victims are mostly girls and some are not yet in their teens. Staff said they are often coerced or intimidated into sexual activity by multiple abusers.

Shocking details of the ordeals suffered by some the borough's young people emerged during a meeting called to discuss child sexual exploitation yesterday.

Oct 20: Vulnerable girls as young as 14 abused at hotel 'sex parties' in Croydon

One 15-year-old girl told how she was raped by several boys she met at West Croydon bus station and later blackmailed with secretly recorded video footage.

She said: "I didn't really want to do anything with them but because they're boys and boys are stronger than girls, I just had this feeling that if I said no they'd beat me up or do something horrible to me."

Another girl, aged just 12, was groomed for abuse by a gang and repeatedly sexually assaulted.

The victims' stories were relayed by video to the Croydon Congress, a conference held by Croydon Council to discuss how youth services can tackle child sexual exploitation.

Mark Watson, cabinet member for communities, safety and justice, said: "Child sex exploitation can take many forms.

"We may hear about cases in the media where organised groups of older men are abusing girls.

"However, this is in no way the only form it can take and it is not the profile of child sexual exploitation that we are presently aware of in Croydon.

"In most cases we are aware of locally, we have found that it is young people who are targeting are each other in peer-on-peer abuse.

"No matter what the age difference is between the perpetrator and the victim, it is still abuse and must be stopped."

The Croydon Guardian reported last month how vulnerable young girls as young as 14 had been abused at "sex parties" in Croydon hotel rooms by a network of "predatory" young men.

The abusers, aged between 14 and 25, circulated video footage of their teenage victims on social media to blackmail them into sex, with some of the girls manipulated into helping to recruit more young women for abuse.

Laura Butterworth, senior programmes manager at the Safer London Foundation charity, said victims did not always initially realise they were being exploited.

She said: "Child sexual exploitation has occurred through the use of technology without the child's immediate recognition, for example the persuasion to post sexual images on the internet or on mobile phones.

"Violence, coercion and intimidation are common."

Many Croydon victims are aged between 14 and 16, with the majority living in the north of the borough. A disproportionate number of victims are black, according to Safer London Foundation research.

Ms Butterworth said: "We have got to be aware of these risk factors so we can intervene earlier and prevent further sexual exploitation."

Victim's story: "It did destroy me"

A 15-year-old girl was raped by a group of boys who then used videos to blackmail her into having sex with them.

She said: "My friends used to go talk to these boys and they always used to go meet them after school.

"There was part of me that didn't want to go. They didn't force me but they persuaded me to go.

"We went to West Croydon bus station when it was still open and I just saw certain individuals.

"They didn't really make me feel welcome, they just made me feel ugly.

"We went into some flats and it was in the stairway bit and they were just asking me things, like have I ever done this or that with a boy.

"I hadn't actually done anything. They would get closer to me and be touching me and stuff.

"I didn't actually like it but I didn't say anything, because I thought all my other friends did it too.

"I remember there was one time I was with some boy and I couldn't go until I did something with them.

"Even if I wanted to leave I couldn't because I had to do what they wanted me to do.

"I didn't really want to do anything with them but because they're boys, and boys are stronger than girls, I just had this feeling that if I said no they'd beat me up or do something horrible to me.

"There was a time when I was having sex with these boys at their house and I didn't know I was being recorded.

"Some of the boys used to say they still have it, they have it on their laptops, and how they could expose me.

"I used to be scared so I used to go meet up with these boys and do whatever they wanted to do so that it wouldn't get out there.

"When you get exploited it destroys a person. It did destroy me.

"I still have confidence but when I go outside of school I don't have as much because I don't know who knows me.

"I want to be successful. I want to make my mum and dad and family proud and get a good job.

"I want everyone to see - I want people who have treated me wrong the past to see - how well I'm doing without them and to see that I've changed and I'm not how they made me to look.

"I want to prove a point."