FAQs on child trafficking

Child trafficking is a complex phenomenon. Here are answers to ten of the most commonly asked questions in our daily interactions with child protection professionals.

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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

Lighting the way

The second report for the ReACT project provides guidance for professionals on how to improve the identification and protection of children who may have been trafficked.
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.
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.
Class Acts? Examining modern slavery legislation across the UK

Has new anti-slavery legislation across the UK increased prosecution of traffickers, prevented further trafficking and enhanced the protection of victims?
Time to deliver

Victims of trafficking who are pregnant or have children are ‘systematically overlooked’ in the UK’s anti-trafficking response, according to a new report by the Anti-Trafficking Monitoring Group (ATMG), a coalition of twelve UK-based charities, including ECPAT UK.
Evaluation of Independent Child Trafficking Advocates trial: Final Report

This report presents findings from an evaluation of a one-year trial of the Independent Child Trafficking Advocates (ICTA) service that took place across 23 local authority areas in England. The trial was part of the Government’s commitment to section 48 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, which sets out provisions for the ICTA service.
UK implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

UK Government policies and spending decisions are failing to prioritise children, including child victims of trafficking, according to new research by the Children's Rights Alliance for England (CRAE), which ECPAT UK is a member.
Trafficking for Forced Criminal Activities and Begging in Europe

The UK and neighbouring European states fail to protect thousands of adults and children trafficked and forced into crime, according to a new study by the RACE in Europe Project.
Proposal for a Revised National Referral Mechanism (NRM): For Adults

The Anti-Trafficking Monitoring Group (ATMG) proposes replacing the current “flawed” system for adults with one of two models, utilising victim-centred and human rights-based approaches, and drawing on the OHCHR Recommended Principles and Guidelines on Human Rights and Human Trafficking.
Proposal for a Revised National Referral Mechanism (NRM): For Children

ECPAT UK, as part of the ATMG, has proposed an "alternative" NRM model that puts children at the heart of the identification process, embedding it within existing safeguarding systems in order to identify more children who may have been trafficked and generally improve the UK’s response to trafficked children.

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.