Trafficked Children

• Recognition
• Children Already in the UK
• Working with Trafficked Children
• Report Concerns

A trafficked child is either coerced or deceived by the adult who brings them into the country. When the child arrives, they may be denied their human rights and are forced into exploitation by the trafficker or the adult/s into whose control the child is delivered.

The London Safeguarding Children Board (external link) has developed a Safeguarding Trafficked Children Toolkit (PDF, 1Mb).

Exploitation may include:

• Domestic servitude
• Sexual exploitation
• Forced marriage
• Criminal activity such as street robbery or credit card fraud
• Begging
• Benefit fraud
• Acting as a drug mule or decoy for adult traffickers
• Sweatshop or restaurant work

A child may be exploited by more than one of these means at once.

Recognition

Even children who understand what has happened may still appear to submit willingly, through fear for themselves or their family, or because they believe their parents have agreed to the situation, or sometimes also because of bribes.

Recognition of trafficked and exploited children will normally rely on a combination of general signs of abuse and neglect, signs associated with exploitation and issues concerned with the child’s immigration status.

Signs and symptoms specific to trafficking include children who are:

• Not in possession of their own travel documents;
• Excessively afraid of being deported;
• Known to have had their journey or visa arranged by someone other than themselves or their family;
• In possession of false papers, and these have been provided by another person;
• Unable to confirm which adult is going to accept responsibility for them;
• Accompanied / controlled by a person who has applied for visas on behalf of many others, or acts as guarantor for other visa applications;
• Travelling on a visa application that has been guaranteed by a person who has acted for other visitors who have not returned to their countries of origin on the expiry of the visa;
• Being cared for by adult/s who are not their parents, or the quality of the relationship between the child and their adult carers is not good;
• Scantily dressed, or have the labels cut out of their clothes;
• Required to earn a minimum amount of money every day;
• Required to pay off an exorbitant debt, perhaps for the travel costs, before being able to have control over their own earnings;
• Handing over a large part of their earnings to another person;
• Presenting a history with missing links and unexplained moves;
• Working in various locations;
• Known to beg for money.

Children already in the UK

Most trafficked children are invisible to statutory services.

As most trafficked children are not aware of their rights or that they can claim asylum, they are unlikely to come to the notice of asylum or immigration services once they are in the UK.

Many trafficked and exploited children are not registered at school or with a GP. These children do not come into contact with the statutory services who could raise concerns about their welfare, although younger children may be known to LA housing services or the benefits service.

Professionals in all agencies should be alert to the possibility that a newly immigrant child could be living with adults who are exploiting the child (i.e. that the child is trafficked). A child may be presented at Accident & Emergency services, walk-in centres, minor injury units or GUM clinics, or could be registered at school for a short period only, or not attending school.

A child in this situation is being privately fostered, and professionals should check with LA children’s social care to establish whether the arrangement has been notified to them.

Working with trafficked children

The child is likely to need:

• Safe accommodation if they are victims of an organised trafficking operation;
• Legal advice about their rights and immigration status;
• Their whereabouts to be kept confidential;
• Discretion and caution to be used in tracing their families;
• A risk assessment to be made into the danger they face if they are repatriated;
• Support and protection against reprisals if acting as a witness.

Download

• Safeguarding Trafficked Children Toolkit (PDF, 1Mb)
• London Acts to Safeguard Trafficked Children, London SCB (PDF, 123KB)