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Three Small Steps The Three Small Steps Campaign was launched in 2007 by ECPAT UK and World Vision. Following a number of successful outcomes for the campaign, ECPAT UK has relaunched the campaign focussing on new aims and objectives. Alarming Numbers of Missing Children The number of child victims of trafficking who go missing from local authority care is of major concern to ECPAT UK. In a report published by ECPAT UK in 2007 it was found that of 80 children known or suspected to have been trafficked over an 18 month period, 56 per cent had gone missing from local authority care in the North East and North West of England and the West Midlands. In 2009, the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre published a Scoping Report on Child Trafficking which indentified 325 children as potential victims of trafficking in the UK between March 2007 and February 2008. And this is only a snapshot in some local authorities Ð nobody knows the real figures. This report found that 23% of these migrant children are missing without trace - some of them are likely to have been re-trafficked. In March 2009 it was reported by the Guardian Newspaper that at least 77 Chinese children had gone missing from a single borough in London since 2006. What is being done? Although the UK Government recognises that human trafficking is a major concern for the UK and has launched an Action Plan to tackle it, much still has to be done to ensure that child victims of trafficking receive the care and protection they need. To date, the Three Small Steps Campaign has been successful in ensuring the:
No safe place to stay Too many child victims of trafficking are provided with inappropriate accommodation which leads to children being even more vulnerable. To prevent children in care going missing the UK Government should ensure the provision of safe and supported accommodation suitable for child victims of trafficking.
Alone and scared The need for a system of guardianship in the UK has been recognised by practitioners, child rights organisations, national and international bodies. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, the UK Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights, and numerous NGOs and immigration lawyers have called upon the UK Government to appoint a guardian for separated children, including child victims of trafficking. The responsibilities of a guardian would include:
What can be done? Child victims of trafficking need specialist support. The UK government should establish a system of guardianship for child victims of trafficking, who will have a statutory duty to support the child in their legal, practical and emotional needs and to determine their best interests.
If you donÕt know it, you cannot fight it Without an independent National Rapporteur, it is not possible to know if laws and policies are effective in stopping the trafficking of children or supporting child victims of trafficking. The government says that because it has already set up structures to combat trafficking that there is no need for a National Rapporteur. However, in comparison to the establishment of these bodies, including the UK Human Trafficking Centre, the creation of an independent National Rapporteur on trafficking with a special focus on children, will be one small step which will make a great difference in the way these agencies work. A crucial part of the way a National Rapporteur works is to report to Parliament to ensure scrutiny over laws and policies.
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