Children's champions

Each year, ECPAT UK recognises an individual who has demonstrated outstanding commitment to trafficked children with our Children's Champion award.

Find out more about the achievements of our brilliant Children's Champions over the years.

Garden Court Chambers named Children's Champion 2019

ECPAT UK has today announced Garden Court Chambers as the recipient of the 2019 Children’s Champion Award. The award is made in recognition of Garden Court's tireless work advocating for the rights of trafficked children and developing the law to protect child victims for over a decade. Read more

Lawyer Silvia Nicolaou Garcia named 2018 Children’s Champion

ECPAT UK has today announced solicitor Silvia Nicolaou Garcia as the recipient of the 2018 Children’s Champion award. Read more

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

Statement following convictions of those involved in the Essex lorry deaths

This week, two more men were found guilty of manslaughter following the deaths of 39 Vietnamese men, women and children in a lorry in Essex last October. Our thoughts remain with the families and friends of all the victims. The case highlights the precarious journeys people are compelled to make due to a lack of safe and legal routes, which pushes desperate people into the hands of smugglers and traffickers.
Festive message from our CEO Patricia Durr

As we come to the end of 2020, I want to say a big thank you to for all for your continued support in what has been the most challenging of years for all of us. You’ve stuck with us when we needed it the most and for that we will be endlessly grateful.
ECPAT elves share festive joy with trafficked young people

Following a fantastic response to our winter appeal, the ECPAT UK team is delivering festive hampers to members of our youth groups for young people affected by trafficking. Each hamper contains ‘something to read, something you need and something you want’ along with festive messages from our supporters who are responding generously to our appeal. Here’s a sneak peak at what's inside the hampers and our team of ECPAT elves doing the deliveries!
Government publishes its response to the Online Harms White Paper consultation

The government has today published its response to the Online Harms White Paper consultation which is expected to be followed by an Online Harms Bill in early 2020. ECPAT UK welcomes this landmark proposal to keep children safe online. ECPAT UK welcomes the cross-party commitment to regulation of tech companies, recognition that this is a global problem requiring close collaboration with international partners and the proposed legal duty of care on tech companies to keep users safe.

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.
Child trafficking statistics
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.
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.
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.
ECPAT UK training

ECPAT UK offers a comprehensive training programme, in line with National Occupational Standards, delivering courses for more than 20 years to help improve responses to child trafficking, modern slavery and exploitation.