New report by Refugee Council and Children's Society says more must be done to make sure trafficked children are made safe from further exploitation and abuse
A new joint report by the Refugee Council and the Children's Society says that children and young people trafficked into the UK, or exploited after their arrival, often struggle to get the help they need to escape the exploitative situation and move on with their lives.
You can download the report, Still at Risk: A review of support for trafficked children, here.
According to a Children's Society press release, the report draws on interviews with young people who were trafficked to the UK as children, as well as a range of professionals who work with them and local authorities across England.
The Children's Society says while some improvements have been made with helping trafficked children, too many opportunities to protect them are being missed because of a culture of doubt and suspicion among professionals.
The press releases says the culture of doubt has led some trafficked children to be punished rather than protected, causing some to be sent to adult prison or detention centres because of doubts over their real ages. Others have been placed in inappropriate housing such as hostels leaving them vulnerable to being re-trafficked and forced into further abuse.
According to the Refugee Council, research for the report found over half of the children had their ages disputed, and some had undergone multiple age assessments before it was agreed by the authorities that they were children.
In addition, the Refugee Council said in a press release that the report found that the authorities are often too quick to criminalise these young people. Many felt they were treated with suspicion and prejudice, as if they were "illegal immigrants". They spoke of how little information they were given about their rights and what is available to them, including the right to go to school.
Matthew Reed, Chief Executive of The Children's Society said: "A huge amount of work must be done to make sure incredibly vulnerable trafficked children are made safe from further exploitation and abuse. An important starting point is ending the 'culture of disbelief' that is stopping children's needs being made the urgent priority they clearly are."
He continued: "It is vital that trafficked children are treated as victims of a crime - and not as criminals - by professionals responsible for their safety and welfare. Progress has been made in recent years, but much more needs to be done to keep trafficked children safe and help them rebuild their lives. We welcome the opportunity to continue working with the government to improve the support and care for trafficked children."
Maurice Wren, Chief Executive of the Refugee Council said: "This report helps us to understand what support is needed to help children recover from their horrific experiences and learn to build trusting relationships with adults again. The current system is not doing this adequately; we need to get better at looking for the signs, helping children to escape and making sure that they no longer need to fear their traffickers. There's plenty of room for improvement in current policy and practice. We look forward to working with government to make the necessary changes to ensure we do our very best to provide the children with the protection they need."
The Refugee Council says it is calling on the government to provide trafficked children with an independent trusted adult from the moment they come to the authorities' attention, in order to help guide them through the extremely complex system to ensure they receive the support and protection they need.
Mark Harper, Immigration Minister said: "The government commissioned this report as part of our wider work to better understand and eradicate all forms of human trafficking and we will look carefully at its findings. "
"We are already taking action on a number of fronts. We are working with front line professionals to help them better identify and support potential victims, particularly children. The new National Crime Agency will, from next month, lead an enhanced and co-ordinated response to targeting trafficking gangs, and we will be overhauling and updating legislation by bringing forward a draft Modern Slavery Bill this session."
"We are committed to eliminating this abhorrent crime and recognise it will take time, effort and people at every level of society doing what they can to help."