Supporting young people

Youth programme

The award-winning ECPAT UK youth programme supports young people to move on and recover from their experiences of exploitation and trafficking. We provide a safe environment to enable them to learn valuable life skills, access peer support, understand their rights and have their voices heard.Read more

Trafficked girls and young women's group

The award-winning ECPAT UK Trafficked girls and young women's group was the first-ever peer support group for trafficked young people in the UK. It provides a safe space where young people who have been through emotional trauma can socialise and get involved in projects, such as drama and arts, as a way for them to recover from their experiences.Read more

Trafficked boys and young men's group

ECPAT UK and The Children’s Society run a partnership project supporting boys and young men who have been trafficked to the UK. The project draws on the successful model of peer support for trafficked girls and young women pioneered by ECPAT UK.Read more

Latest

Governments must make good global promises on child labour

ECPAT UK is calling on governments across the world to honour the commitment to eradicate child labour on global World Day Against Child Labour (12th June).

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You may be surprised to hear that each year criminals bring hundreds of children to the UK for abuse in domestic servitude, sexual exploitation and other forms of forced labour. Just last year, for example, 700 children were found in horrendous circumstances of human trafficking, a 35% increase on the previous year. Your help is so urgently needed to stop this alarming trend.

Annual reports

ECPAT UK is a registered charity (Number 1104948) and a company limited by guarantee (Number 5061385).

ECPAT UK Row for Freedom

In 2012, Debbie Beadle, ECPAT UK Head of Youth Programmes, captained a team of women rowers across the Atlantic Ocean to raise awareness of human trafficking and raise funds for ECPAT UK. The Row For Freedom team earned two world records in the process: ‘The fastest crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by an all-female team’ and ‘The first five-woman team to row any ocean’.

The National Referral Mechanism

The National Referral Mechanism is a process set up by the Government to identify and support victims of trafficking in the UK. It was born out of the Government's obligation to identify victims under the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Human Trafficking, which came into force on 1 February 2008.

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Heading back to harm: A study on trafficked and unaccompanied children going missing from care in the UK

Trafficked and unaccompanied asylum-seeking children are going missing from UK care at an “alarmingly high” rate, according to Heading Back to Harm, a study by leading charities ECPAT UK and Missing People.

Record number of UK child trafficking cases reported in 2016

Child trafficking referrals increased by 30% to 1,278 in 2016, the highest on record according to the latest figures from the National Crime Agency.

Our history

Twenty five years ago, the idea of a campaign to ‘End Child Prostitution in Asian Tourism’ was launched in Thailand by a small group of concerned individuals. Twenty-five years later, this campaign, ECPAT, has evolved into a global network of civil society organisations dedicated to end the commercial sexual exploitation of children.

Definitions

Better support, better protection: Steps lawyers and guardians can take to better identify and protect trafficked children

This report provides a snapshot of the manner in which children who may have been trafficked into and within five EU states were or were not identified and protected in and up to 2016.

Fundraise for us

Our incredible fundraisers make a real difference to the lives of trafficked young people.

Hold online offenders financially accountable for child sexual abuse

In 2016, we called on Michael Gove MP, UK Secretary of State for Justice, to grant access to recovery funds for child victims of online sexual abuse. Thank you to the 38,543 ECPAT UK supporters who signed this petition.

Child trafficking, exploitation and modern slavery

Our full-day face-to-face training will support participants to develop a clear understanding of how to recognise child trafficking, exploitation and modern slavery, as well as provide up-to-date skills to respond to these abuses and better support trafficked children.