on Missing Children ECPAT UK is calling for an urgent inquiry by the UK Government to investigate the large numbers of suspected or known trafficked children who go missing from local authority care each year.

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Take Action

Write to your MP and ask for: Figures to show how many children have gone missing from local authority care in your constituency over the last three years. Write to the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, Rt HON Ed Balls MP urging him to: Conduct an independent national inquiry into children who go missing from local authority care. Please send copies of the response to your letters to ECPAT UK, Grosvenor Gardens House, 35-37 Grosvenor Gardens, London, SW1W 0BS, or by e-mail to info@ecpat.org.uk.

Your MP House of Commons Westminster London SW1A 0AA

Rt Hon Ed Balls MP Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families Department of Education and Skills Sanctuary Buildings Great Smith Street London SW1P 3BT

Background

Child trafficking in the UK

In 2007, ECPAT UK launched a groundbreaking new report on child trafficking in England. Called Missing Out the report includes a summary of research findings across the North-East, the North-West and the Midlands.

The report highlights 80 children known or suspected of being trafficked into the UK for sexual exploitation, labour exploitation and forced marriage. More shocking is that 48 (60%) of these children have gone missing from local authority care and have never been found.

Often these children go missing within the first week of going into care. The care arrangements vary – emergency accommodation, foster care and even round the clock monitored housing.

Trafficked children and vulnerable children from abroad are missing out on accessing local authority services because of their isolation, their immigration status, having no advocate who can speak on their behalf about their special needs, because of authorities trying to cope with limited resources, limited expertise and with concerns that child protection support is being compromised by trafficked children’s uncertain immigration status.

Read our report Missing Out: A Study of Child Trafficking in the North-West, North-East and West Midlands

ECPAT UK previously carried out research on child trafficking in 2001 and again in 2004. These two studies identified particular trends in child trafficking for sexual exploitation and labour exploitation in London and surrounding areas. The 2004 research found that 26 out of 32 London boroughs had concerns about child trafficking. It also highlighted significant problems in tackling child trafficking, including little or no training of social workers in this area, poor communication between agencies, inconsistent standards of care and accommodation for child victims, and ad hoc methods of victim identification.

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JOIN with ECPAT UK and World Vision to campaign the Government to protect trafficked children (click on the icon below to join).

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