Overview
Human Trafficking is defined as:
‘The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or
receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of
coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power, or a
position of vulnerability, or the giving or receiving of payments or benefits
to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the
purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the
exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual
exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to
slavery, servitude or the removal or organs’.
(source: Article 3, Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish
Trafficking in Persons Especially Women and Children, UN High Commissioner for
Human Rights)
Human Trafficking is a growing problem, with the UK
recognised as a significant transit and destination country for trafficked
women and young people. They are trafficked for a variety of reasons, primarily
sexual exploitation, forced labour and cannabis cultivation.
The full scale of the problem is unknown but the NRM
(national referral mechanism) reported 1481 potential cases of human
trafficking in the UK between 1st April 2010 and 31st March 2011 (source: NRM
Statistical Data April 2009 to March 2011 Report, www.soca.gov.uk).
The International Organisation for Migration reported that
62% of the victims they assisted in 2011 were under 18 (source: IOM 2011 Case
Data on Human Trafficking: Global Figures and Trends).
Child Trafficking
In October 2011 CEOP (Child Exploitation and Online
Protection Centre) published a report entitled ‘Child Trafficking Update’ that
gave data on reported cases of child trafficking between 1st January
2011 and 15th September 2011.
The figures from the report help highlight the problem
within the UK, especially when we remember that this does not represent the
full extent of the problem but only reports on those victims that were identified by agencies
such as CEOP and NSPCC CTAIL.
The report shows that in just under nine months 202 children
were identified as being trafficked into or within the UK.
The table below shows the source region and gender for these
202 children:
202 Children
|
67
from Africa
|
48 African girls
|
19 African boys
|
||
63 from Asia
|
20 Asian girls
|
|
43 Asian boys
|
||
50 from Eastern
Europe
|
32 Eastern European
girls
|
|
18 Eastern European
boys
|
||
22 from
other/unknown
|
17 other/unknown
girls
|
|
5 other/unknown
boys
|
Child victims of human trafficking are those victims that
were under 18 when they were trafficked and exploited. For some victims their
age is unknown as they do not know their own age and the Competent Authority is
unable to establish an exact age.
The following table shows the ages of the 202 children by
geographical region.
Age
|
Africa
|
Asia
|
Eastern Europe
|
Other/Unknown
|
Total
|
Under 5
|
2
|
0
|
6
|
0
|
8
|
5-7
|
3
|
0
|
4
|
2
|
9
|
8-10
|
9
|
0
|
8
|
1
|
18
|
11-13
|
7
|
4
|
7
|
0
|
18
|
14-16
|
28
|
45
|
20
|
13
|
106
|
17
|
18
|
14
|
5
|
5
|
42
|
The exploitation of the trafficked children can be broken
down into 6 main areas, however many victims experience multiple types of
exploitation, for example a child exploited for benefit fraud may also be
forced into criminality. The 6 main types of child exploitation are:
1. Benefit Fraud – children
are trafficked into the UK for the purposes of claiming benefits. A child
is often moved between multiple addresses and benefits are claimed under
multiple fake identities.
2. Cannabis Cultivation –
young people are forced to work as ‘gardeners’ in ‘cannabis farms’. These
farms are often in converted residential houses.
3.Criminal Exploitation –
children are trafficked into the UK and then forced into criminal
activities such as pick-pocketing and shop-lifting in order to create an
income for their exploiter.
4. Domestic Servitude – this
is an often very hidden form of child exploitation, happening behind
closed doors with victims being kept out of sight.
5. Labour Exploitation –
children are trafficked for the purposes of forced labour. They are made
to work in agriculture, hospitality, construction and nail bars.
6. Sexual Exploitation –
children trafficked into and within the UK are forced into sexual
exploitation in order to gain an income for their exploiters. They are
often forced to work under the threat of a debt-bondage and physical
violence.
The following table shows the primary exploitation type for
the 202 children and the split by gender and region for each type of
exploitation:
Exploitation Type
|
Number of Children
|
Gender
|
Region
|
||||
Male
|
Female
|
Africa
|
Asia
|
E Europe
|
Other
|
||
Benefit Fraud
|
23
|
56.5%
|
43.5%
|
21.7%
|
78.3%
|
||
Cannabis Cultivation
|
21
|
85.7%
|
14.3%
|
100%
|
|||
Criminal Exploitation
|
15
|
28.6%
|
71.4%
|
7.1%
|
92.9%
|
||
Domestic Servitude
|
23
|
45.5%
|
54.5%
|
68.2%
|
22.7%
|
9.1%
|
|
Labour Exploitation
|
56
|
55.8%
|
44.2%
|
10%
|
38%
|
52%
|
|
Sexual Exploitation
|
53
|
100%
|
56.8%
|
17%
|
20.5%
|
4.5%
|
These figures make stark reading. We need to understand the UK picture so that we can respond appropriately. The Treehouse Project is one such response.
The Treehouse Project is an after-care service in the UK for survivors of Human Trafficking. The
project focuses on the rehabilitation of children and young people who have
been the victims of trafficking. The project aims to provide therapeutic
aftercare through counselling, befriending, education and accommodation.
For further reading, the full CEOP report can be found at http://www.ceop.police.uk/Documents/ceopdocs/child_trafficking_update_2011.pdf
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