Training

"ECPAT UK helped me view life from the victim's perspective, making the reality of our job worthy." Social worker, London

ECPAT UK’s multidisciplinary team provides a wide range of training courses relating to modern slavery, trafficking and exploitation for individuals and organisations. As well as the training courses offered below, we can provide bespoke training to your organisation to ensure it is tailored and relevant to your work.

ECPAT UK has delivered training courses for more than 20 years to build frontline workers' capacity and improve responses to child trafficking, modern slavery and exploitation across the UK. Our comprehensive training programme has been created in line with National Occupational Standards and many of our courses are CPD accredited.

Please note that due to Covid-19, all of our training courses are being delivered online until further notice.

We've adapted our training courses so that you can continue learning online until we are able to hold training sessions in person once more. We've been working to ensure our courses remain of the highest quality and to maintain the interactive nature of our training.

Most courses now consist of half-day two modules which are completed over Zoom. We are pleased to offer discounts for multiple team member bookings - simply get in touch with Phil by emailing [email protected] to discuss your organisation's needs.

Free webinar: Child victims of trafficking in the UK immigration system

Join us for a free, one hour webinar on child victims of trafficking in the UK's immigration system, which is a complex issue that has enormous consequences for trafficked children. We'll look at the challenges child victims of trafficking face in the UK’s immigration system and how they can cause precarity for children, the immigration avenues available to children as well as why and how practitioners should support young people to secure their immigration status. Read more

Free webinar: Focusing practice on children's best interests

Join us for a free, one hour webinar on focusing practice on the best interests of child victims of trafficking. Trafficked children often find themselves in a complex system of safeguarding, asylum and criminal justice. We'll explore the common areas of practice where we lose sight of the best interests of the child, and how we can ensure children's best interests are fully embedded in all aspects of practice. Read more

An Overview of Child Trafficking, Exploitation and Modern Slavery - 2021 dates

This online training course supports participants to develop a clear understanding of how to recognise and respond to child trafficking, exploitation and modern slavery. Split into two half-day modules, the course will equip you with updated knowledge and skills to better support trafficked children. Read more

An Overview of Child Trafficking, Exploitation and Modern Slavery

Child Criminal Exploitation and Trafficking

This online training course gives participants an understanding of the causes and dynamics of forced criminality among children in the UK. Split into two half-day modules, the course will equip practitioners with knowledge and skills on CCE, safeguarding best practice and the youth justice system, to improve support for child victims. Read more

Safe accommodation and missing child victims of trafficking

This online training course focuses on the specific challenges of accommodating victims of trafficking and separated children seeking asylum. Split into two half-day modules, this course will give participants an understanding of the issue and will support you with practical tools to prevent and respond to missing incidents in line with best practice guidance. Read more

Spiritual abuse and child trafficking

This online, half-day course examines the particular relationship between spiritual abuse and child trafficking. Participants will gain an understanding of the interlinkages between the two, their dynamics and effective responses to this particular issue. Read more

Child Trafficking and Exploitation in Tourism

Dates coming soon: This training is designed for those working across the tourism industry and aims to give participants an understanding of the relationship between tourism and trafficking, as well as equip them with policies and best practice to protect children from exploitation. Training is available to hotels, tour operators, travel agents and others interested in ethical and sustainable tourism. Read more

The Modern Slavery Act 2015

Dates coming soon: The Modern Slavery Act 2015 makes provisions for the protection of child victims of trafficking. This course assists frontline professionals to understand their responsibility under the Act and use it to improve identification, responses and care of child victims of trafficking. In this course other key legislation relevant to frontline workers will also be covered. Read more

Bespoke training for professionals

We deliver bespoke training courses across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland (or even further afield). Each course is tailored to your organisation’s needs. In light of the Covid-19 pandemic, we're pleased to be able to offer online, interactive training to your team until we are able to safely deliver training in person once more. Read more

Free webinar: Interviewing child victims of trafficking

Calling all lawyers, advocates, social workers and professionals working with potential victims of child trafficking: as part of the European Commission funded ReACT Project, ECPAT UK delivered two free online tutorials for those working with trafficked or at risk children. View them here. Read more

Latest

20th anniversary of the Palermo Protocol

This month marks the 20th anniversary of the United Nations Palermo Protocol – the world’s first legally binding instrument with an agreed definition on human trafficking. ECPAT UK’s Sinead Geoghegan writes about child trafficking in the UK 20 years on and what we need to do to prevent trafficking and support victims.

Education Secretary acted unlawfully in removing legal protections for children during the pandemic, Court of Appeal rules

The Court of Appeal has ruled that the Secretary of State for Education unlawfully removed safeguards for children in care during the Coronavirus pandemic. Led by the charity Article 39, ECPAT UK and over 60 other child rights organisations publicly campaigned against the changes, introduced overnight under Statutory Instrument 445 without public consultation or parliamentary debate.

UK child sex offender among “most prolific” ever investigated and brought to justice for online abuse

The National Crime Agency (NCA) has successfully brought one of the most prolific child sexual abuse offenders to justice for crimes committed online against children in the UK and abroad, highlighting the central role of evidence from social media companies and joining a growing number of children’s charities, child rights advocates and public officials calling for Facebook to urgently halt plans to implement end-to-end encryption which leaves children at significant risk.

Responses to questions raised at the launch of our joint review of what works in multi-agency safeguarding

Further to the virtual launch of ECPAT UK and the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner's joint review, A review of what works in multi-agency decision making and the implications for child victims of trafficking on the 12th August 2020, we're pleased to provide answers to the questions raised during the event.

The Secret Gardeners: New film on child trafficking from Vietnam

The Secret Gardeners aims to inform professionals about the plight of children who are forced by organised crime gangs to grow drugs in houses across the UK but who often face criminalisation and prison.

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.

Demand specialist support for trafficked children

In 2018 we worked with Care2 to call on the Home Secretary, Sajid Javid MP, to overhaul the current system of identification and support for victims of trafficking – the National Referral Mechanism (NRM).

Urgent action needed: Independent guardianship for all trafficked, unaccompanied and separated children

Last October, an incredible 120,535 supporters called for specialist support for all trafficked children. However, the fight is not finished. Make sure your voice is heard by contacting the Home Secretary asking him to provide guardianship for all trafficked, separated and unaccompanied children

Volunteer

ECPAT UK relies on committed volunteers to support the work that we do. Without their help, we would not be able to campaign as effectively against child exploitation.

Before the Harm is Done: Examining the UK's response to the prevention of trafficking

The UK Government is failing to protect thousands of children from exploitation by lacking a plan to prevent child trafficking, according to a new report by the Anti-Trafficking Monitoring Group (ATMG), a coalition of twelve UK-based charities, including ECPAT UK. The report Before the Harm is Done, stresses that the UK has no specific strategy in relation to preventing trafficking in children, putting thousands of children at risk.