UK laws fail to stop Britons sexually abusing children abroad

A new ECPAT UK expert paper has said that UK legislation is largely ineffective to protect children abroad from travelling UK sex offenders.

Despite the UK's strengthened legal powers to combat child sexual exploitation, children abroad remain acutely vulnerable to UK travelling abusers, the paper argues, due to weak extraterritorial provisions and limited UK investigative collaboration with EU and international law enforcement.

The paper, entitled Developments in the UK’s Response to Child Trafficking and Child Sexual Exploitation, calls for strengthened multi-agency international cooperation, mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse offences by UK offenders abroad and the establishment of a national investigation unit to tackle extraterritorial child sexual abuse.

CLICK HERE to read the expert paper

UK offenders continue to pose an acute threat to vulnerable children overseas. Since its inception, ECPAT UK has investigated or documented nearly 200 child sexual abuse cases abroad involving British offenders. In 2015, 154 British nationals were detained in prisons abroad for child sex offences.

Yet, as of May 2013, there were only 2 successful prosecutions of British nationals under UK extra-territorial law. According to the US Trafficking in Persons report, the UK Government also fails to provide data on the number of convictions it has secured against UK nationals sexually abusing children abroad.

Bharti Patel, CEO, ECPAT UK, said: “The UK must recognise that it has a responsibility and duty to respect the rights of children everywhere as enshrined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Government is also responsible for the welfare and protection of children when they are at risk of exploitation by UK nationals and UK companies. It is shocking that the UK Government continues to ignore the risks its offenders pose to vulnerable children the world over. We need bold leadership to truly tackle this growing scandal.”

ENDS

Press contact

Bharti Patel, CEO, ECPAT UK, 020 7607 2136, [email protected]

Latest

Joint statement on the treatment of unaccompanied children in response to Chief Inspectorate reports

ECPAT UK has joined 19 other organisations in continuing the call for an independent inquiry into the treatment of unaccompanied children following the publication of outstanding reports including the reinspection of Home Office hotels, by His Majesty's Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration
VIDEO EVENT - Prevention and identification of children and young adults experiencing, or at risk of, modern slavery in the UK.

Launch event of our latest report, ‘Prevention and identification of children and young adults experiencing, or at risk of, modern slavery in the UK', with ECPAT UK and Rights Lab on 26 February 2024.
ECPAT UK Expresses Deep Concern Over Dismissal of Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration  Amidst Unpublished Report on Unaccompanied Children in Home Office Hotels

Raising serious concerns about the UK government's accountability and commitment to child protection, the Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, David Neal, has been dismissed by the Home Office.
Prevention and identification of children and young adults experiencing, or at risk of, modern slavery in the UK.

New research report reveals the alarming reality of child modern slavery in the UK and calls for urgent action to protect children and young people.

Joint statement on the treatment of unaccompanied children in response to Chief Inspectorate reports

ECPAT UK has joined 19 other organisations in continuing the call for an independent inquiry into the treatment of unaccompanied children following the publication of outstanding reports including the reinspection of Home Office hotels, by His Majesty's Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration
New research reveals the alarming reality of child modern slavery in the UK and calls for urgent action to protect children

This new report identified the reality of child modern slavery in the UK and signalled a critical call to action. The research highlights challenges stemming from gaps in resources and policy, especially in the absence of a UK wide Child Exploitation Strategy.
Child victim of trafficking failed by Barnet Council and the Home Office wins High Court case

High Court has found that a child victim of trafficking was failed by the London Borough of Barnet and the Home Office after receiving no specialist support for several years.
Home Affairs Committee speaks out against Home Office treatment of migrant children and calls for increased care for child victims of trafficking in new report.

ECPAT UK has welcomed the report from the Home Affairs Select Committee published today following its inquiry into human trafficking. The report speaks out against Home Office treatment of migrant children and calls for increased care for child victims of trafficking in new report.
Judge rules that the Home Secretary acted irrationally in the case brought by Kent County Council on the operation of the National Transfer Scheme

High Court rules that the Home Secretary acted irrationally in its operation of the National Transfer Scheme in a further judgement about the accommodation of unaccompanied children in Home Office hotels.
ECPAT UK BIG GIVE CHRISTMAS CHALLENGE 2023

We are delighted to be taking part once again in the Big Give Christmas Challenge Week matched funding campaign. From 28th November to 5th December 2023 all donations are DOUBLED in support of our direct work with child victims of trafficking
King’s Speech announces new laws to tackle online child exploitation whilst reconfirming the UK government’s desire to remove the rights of child victims

The King’s Speech, which was held on 7th November 2023, announces new laws to tackle online child exploitation whilst reconfirming the UK government’s desire to remove the rights of child victims.
ECPAT UK welcomes the announcement of a new Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner

Eleanor Lyons, current Deputy to the Children's Commissioner, has been announced as the new Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner today by the Home Office after 18 month vacancy
High Court orders Home Office to transfer unaccompanied children from hotels into care

At a further High Court hearing on 15th September Mr Justice Chamberlain ordered the Home Office to take all possible steps to transfer all unaccompanied children seeking asylum currently in Home Office hotels to local authority care by 22 September 2023.
High Court retains oversight of the treatment of unaccompanied children

At a further High Court hearing on 17th August Mr Justice Chamberlain ordered continued oversight of the treatment of unaccompanied children by the Home Secretary and Kent County Council, marking the unlawful conduct of the local authority by a specific declaration and setting out further conditions and evidence for the defendants to comply with and a further court hearing.

Child trafficking statistics

The latest data on the number of victims of trafficking in the UK and worldwide.
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.
What is child trafficking?
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.
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.
United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) is an international human rights treaty that grants all children and young people (aged 17 and under) a comprehensive set of rights. The UK signed the Convention on 19 April 1990, ratified it on 16 December 1991 and it came into force on 15 January 1992.
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.
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
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).