ECPAT UK, in conjunction with The Body Shop, has launched a global petition to call on the government to provide greater care and protection for child victims of trafficking.

The petition calls on the government to develop a system of guardianship for children who have been trafficked. This would mean that every trafficked child would have a guardian who would:

• have parental responsibility and would provide care and support to the child.

• ensure that every child would receive the educational, medical, practical and legal support they need to help rebuild their lives

• protect each child and prevent them from facing further exploitation and harm from their traffickers.

ECPAT UK is asking everyone to sign the petition to improve care and support for child victims of trafficking. Please tell all your family and friends too.

Get your MP involved - today!
To coincide with the launch of the petition the Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Human Trafficking, Peter Bone MP, tabled an Early Day Motion (EDM) in Parliament calling on the Government to introduce a system of guardianship for child victims of trafficking.

We are asking all our supporters in the UK to contact your MP to ask them to sign this EDM. The more signatures, the more key decision makers in the Government will take notice, and hopefully take action.

Robert Pattinson

Joanna Lumley

Sienna Miller

Rob Lowe

Aston Merrygold

Yoko Ono

Sir Ben Kingsley

Pixie Lott

What you can do
There are many ways to show your support for our campaign. By signing the petition you are joining our call for greater protection of children and young people against trafficking for sexual exploitation. But you can also tell your friends about the campaign on Facebook, on Twitter, by email, or even face to face.

Campaign background
The three year campaign, Stop Sex Trafficking of Children and Young People, was launched in 2009 to raise awareness of this issue and to raise funds for ECPAT UK's work to combat child trafficking.

The Stop Sex Trafficking of Children and Young People campaign is a global partnership between The Body Shop and ECPAT which aims to put an end to the trafficking of children and young people, guarantee their rights to be protected from exploitation and inspire long-term change to strengthen the protection offered to these children and young people. Body Shops and ECPAT groups in over 40 countries are taking part in the campaign.

Throughout this three year campaign, The Body Shop and ECPAT hope to mobilise the public around the world to engage actively to improve child protection efforts against child trafficking for sexual exploitation and to join in calling on governments to take action to combat child trafficking for sexual exploitation. These actions focus on the prevention of trafficking, the legal framework on prosecuting trafficking and the care of child victims of trafficking which are deemed crucial to achieving our aim of combating child trafficking.

How the funds help ECPAT UK
Funds raised from the campaign have supported our work in 2010; these projects have included working with young people on sexual health education, providing social and networking opportunities for children and young people affected by trafficking, running a peer mentoring programme, working in schools and establishing an ECPAT UK youth panel.