Children's champions

Scottish Guardianship Service named ECPAT UK’s 2016 Children’s Champion

ECPAT UK has today announced the Scottish Guardianship Service as the recipient of the 2016 Children’s Champion award.Read more

Lord McColl of Dulwich is ECPAT UK’s 2015 Children’s Champion

ECPAT UK has today recognised leading Parliamentary children’s rights advocate Lord McColl with its 2015 Children’s Champion award.Read more

ECPAT UK names leading solicitor Children's Champion 2014

Leading refugee children's solicitor Kalvir Kaur has been presented with the 2014 ECPAT UK Children's Champion award.Read more

Safeguarding head named ECPAT UK Children’s Champion 2013

ECPAT UK has awarded Paul Hewitt, Head of Safeguarding Children in Hillingdon, our Children’s Champion Award for outstanding commitment to children in 2013.Read more

Latest

Tandem Skydive

Jump into unknown for child victims of trafficking! Choose from a variety of locations across the UK to take part in a tandem skydive - the easiest and most popular of all skydives - an exhilarating way to raise money for some of the UK's most vulnerable children

ECPAT UK is core participant in landmark inquiry into child sexual abuse

ECPAT UK has been granted core participant status in the Protection of Children Outside the United Kingdom investigation held by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA).

Children are left behind by the Government's modern slavery agenda

Our latest research, Child trafficking in the UK 2018: A snapshot, exposes the limitations of the government’s response to child victims of trafficking and highlights the need for a new, child-centred approach.

ECPAT UK welcomes the ratification of the Lanzarote Convention

ECPAT UK heralds the UK government’s long-awaited ratification of the Lanzarote Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse in the UK and abroad.

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.

Current campaign: Demand specialist support for trafficked children

We are working with Care2 to call on the Home Secretary, Amber Rudd MP, to overhaul the current system of identification and support for victims of trafficking – the National Referral Mechanism (NRM).

Child trafficking statistics

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 a new study by leading charities ECPAT UK and Missing People.

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.

Our team

ECPAT UK's team has more than 30 years' experience working on issues of child trafficking, child protection, child sexual exploitation, unaccompanied children, modern slavery and more.

Stephen's case exposes failings in child trafficking support

‘Stephen’ was identified as a former child victim of trafficking but now faces the threat of removal to Vietnam. His case has rightly received significant public attention, highlighting the urgent need to reform the support system (the National Referral Mechanism) for other children who have been victims of modern slavery in the UK.

Contact us

If you have an immediate concern about a child's welfare, please contact your local council's social care department, who are available 24 hours a day. For all other enquiries related to our work, contact [email protected] or call 020 7607 2136.

About us

ECPAT UK is a leading children's rights organisation working to protect children from child trafficking and transnational child exploitation. We support children everywhere to uphold their rights and to live a life free from abuse and exploitation.