Child trafficking statistics

Global trafficking statistics

20.9 million men, women and children are trapped in some form of forced labour or human trafficking for labour and sexual exploitation.

International Labour Organisation, ILO Global Estimate of Forced Labour: Results and methodology, 2012

1.2 million children are trafficked every year.

International Labour Organisation, Every Child Counts: New Global Estimates on Child Labour, 2012

Between 2010 and 2012, victims holding citizenship from 152 different countries were found in 124 countries.

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Global Report on Trafficking in Persons, 2014

UK trafficking statistics

3,805 potential victims of human trafficking were identified in 2016.

National Crime Agency, National Referral Mechanism Statistics: End of Year Summary, 2016

More than a third of all potential victims of trafficking (1,278) were children aged 18 and under.

National Crime Agency, National Referral Mechanism Statistics: End of Year Summary, 2016

The United Kingdom is the most prominent country of origin for trafficked children – a total of 255 reported cases – followed by Albania (227), Vietnam (227), Afghanistan (74), Eritrea (48), Nigeria (43) and Iran (42).

National Crime Agency, National Referral Mechanism Statistics: End of Year Summary, 2016

More than a quarter of all trafficked children go missing from local authority care.

ECPAT UK and Missing People, Heading Back to Harm: A study on trafficked and unaccompanied children going missing from care in the UK, 2016

Latest

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.
Register now for our FREE child trafficking webinars!

Calling all lawyers, advocates, social workers and more! ECPAT UK, as part of the European Commission funded ReACT Project, is offering two free online tutorials for those working with trafficked children.
UK modern slavery more widespread than previously thought, National Crime Agency says

The scale of human trafficking and modern slavery is far larger than “anyone had previously thought”, the National Crime Agency has said today. Tens of thousands of adults and children, according to NCA Director of Vulnerabilities, Will Kerr, are likely to have been trafficked into modern slavery and human trafficking in the UK.
Training courses

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.
Featured 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/support for victims of trafficking – the National Referral Mechanism (NRM).
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.
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.
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.
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.
Stop the press revealing identities of Calais children

We are calling on the editors of The Sun, the Daily Star, the Daily Mail and the Daily Express to stop risking children's security and inciting discrimination by publishing photographs and personal details about unaccompanied young people arriving in the UK from Calais.
Missing from care

This is a practical course designed to help professionals working with separated children seeking asylum and child victims of trafficking understand and prevent vulnerable children going missing from care.
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.
Modern Slavery Act 2015

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 and care of child victims of trafficking.