Transcript Slide 1

Safeguarding Trafficked Children
BASPCAN – 08.02.11
Sue Gwyer - CSWP COMBAT
Engagement Specialist
www.combattrafficking.eu
Child trafficking is child abuse
• Child trafficking is the movement and
exploitation of anyone under the age of 18
years old
• During the process of trafficking, children
suffer from neglect, emotional abuse, physical
and sexual abuse
• A safeguarding response from professionals is
required
• The Children Act 1989 and 2004 applies to all
children in the UK who need protection –
including children trafficked to the UK
‘Pastor Adeniji’
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/news/ukengland-london-12799805
‘Domestic Servitude’
(S.71 Coroners & Justice Act 2009)
Holding another person in slavery or servitude or
requiring another person to perform forced or
compulsory labour.
The circumstances must be such that the
defendant knows or ought to know that the person
is being so held, or required to perform such
labour.
The offence applies to legal persons e.g.
Companies as it applies to natural persons.
Human Trafficking - the context…
“Trafficking in persons shall mean the recruitment,
transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by
means of threat or use of force or other forms of coercion,
of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power
of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of
payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person
having the control of 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 of organs.”
Protocol to the 2000 UN Convention
Against Transnational Organised Crime – ‘Palermo Protocol’
UK Legislation post Palermo
•
The Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002: Made the trafficking of people
for prostitution illegal
•
The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002: Enabled the criminal assets of traffickers to be
confiscated
•
The Sexual Offences Act 2003: Introduced legislation making all forms of sexual
exploitation illegal – including trafficking into, out of and within the UK
[s.53a amended by s.14 of the Policing & Crime Act 2009]
•
The Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants) Act 2004: Extended
definitions of illegal offences of human trafficking, including forced labour and human
organ transplants
•
The Gangmasters Licensing Act 2004: Established the Gangmasters Licensing
Authority and deals with forced labour
•
The Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2006: Brought in civil penalties and
criminal sentencing for employers who employ illegal immigrants
•
The Coroners and Justice Act 2009: Made it a criminal offence for individuals to
force others into labour, particularly highlighting aspects of slavery and servitude
•
Safeguarding Children who may have been Trafficked 2007 & 2011: An addendum
publication to Working Together to Safeguard Children 2006
The Problem…
• UNGIFT {United Nations Global Initiative to Fight Trafficking}
estimates that there are 2.5 million people in forced
labour (including sexual exploitation) at any given time
worldwide as a direct result of trafficking
• 18.8% of this number are estimated to be in industrialised
countries and countries in transition
• In emerging democracies and post-conflict states across
Europe, the convergence of corruption of officialdom and
emergence of organised crime has provided fertile ground
for the growth in human trafficking
• Trafficking – modern day slavery – occurs both within and
across borders and affects economies, political stability,
law enforcement and public health
The Trafficking of Children
UNGIFT – United Nations Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking
• An estimated 1.2 million children are trafficked
each year worldwide
• 95% of victims experience physical or sexual
violence
• 43% of victims are used for forced commercial
sexual exploitation
98% of this number are women and children
• 32% are used for forced economic exploitation
56% of this number are women and children
Child Trafficking & the UK
• CEOP recorded 325 children trafficked
into the UK between March ‘07 and Feb
’08 – of these approx. 180 went missing
from Local Authority care
• In 2008-09 ‘Operation Glover’, directed
against the internal trafficking of
teenage girls for sexual exploitation,
rescued 33 trafficking victims
‘Operation Golf’
• In 2010 ‘Operation Golf’ picked
up 103 Roma children from 13
addresses in East London. 52
adults were arrested. The
trafficking ring was operating
from one town in Romania.
• Between 01.04.09 and 31.03.11
the UKHTC received 1481
referrals – 390 of which were
minors
But why are people
trafficked?
For what purpose?
In the UK children are trafficked for:
ECPAT – End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and the Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes
• Sexual exploitation
• Forced labour (including restaurant and
catering work)
• Domestic Servitude
• Cultivation of cannabis
• Drug trafficking
• Begging & petty theft
• Blood rituals
• Benefit fraud
• Selling counterfeit goods such as DVD’s
• Illegal adoption / private fostering
In the UK…
[ECPAT]
• There is also evidence that children are brought to
the UK for forced marriage
• There is no current evidence that children are being
trafficked into the UK for organ removal although
there are documented cases elsewhere in the world
including both East and West Europe
But why is trafficking possible? What do you think
makes ‘some’ people more vulnerable to trafficking –
both from abroad and here in the UK?
• Poverty – the root cause of vulnerability to exploitation
• Lack of education – attendance at school has been a key means of
protecting children from all forms of exploitation
• Discrimination – this can be based on gender and ethnicity
• Cultural attitudes – traditional cultural attitudes can mean that some
children are more vulnerable to trafficking than others
• Grooming – children are sometimes trafficked out of their country of
origin after having been groomed for purposes of sexual exploitation
• Dysfunctional families – children may choose to leave home as a
result of domestic abuse and / or neglect or they may have parents /
guardians who have substance dependency issues
• Political conflict and economic transition – often lead to movements
of large numbers of people and the erosion of economic and social
protection mechanisms
• Natural disasters – Earthquakes, Tsunami’s etc – displacement leads
to separated children and vulnerable adults
• Inadequate local laws and regulations – trafficking involves many
different events and processes and legislation in some countries has
been slow to keep pace. Even where there is appropriate legislation
enforcement is often hampered by lack of prioritisation, corruption
and ignorance of the law
The 21st Century Slave Trade
• “Human trafficking is a crime that demeans the value
of human life and is a form of modern day slavery”
UK Action Plan on Human Trafficking - CHP 2
• “There are more slaves in the world today than were
seized from Africa in the four centuries of the
trans-Atlantic slave trade”
‘Free the Slaves’ – Kevin Bales
• “The trafficking of women and children is an
egregious violation of human rights”
Anti-Slavery International
• “ Anyone can report suspected trafficking – as a
public service professional it is your duty
Geoff Feavyour – Chief Constable - Leicestershire Police
A young Chinese woman, forced into domestic servitude in a UK
takeaway restaurant, was confined to live in this outhouse
This was her bed – the post mortem on her body
indicated that she had died of hypothermia. There
was evidence of severe physical abuse on her body
The Traffickers...
• 52% of traffickers are men, 42% are women and 6% work in joint
enterprise
• In 54% of cases recruiters are strangers to victims whilst 46% of
victims know their recruiters
• The global annual profit made from the exploitation of all
trafficked forced labour is conservatively estimated to be US$31.6
Billion {UNGIFT}
• This illicit commercialisation of humanity is the
fastest growing global crime and is today one of the
largest criminal industries in the world second only to
the trade in drugs
How do we COMBAT
Human Trafficking?
• Countries of origin, transit and destination share a mutual interest
and responsibility in combating human trafficking - we must work
across borders
• Human trafficking has a destabilising effect on democratic
institutions, the rule of law and respect for human rights BUT…
• “Liberation is not just about knocking down doors and dragging
people to freedom. Permanent freedom requires survivors to
‘own’ their freedom and to change the systems that support
slavery” – trafficking-monitor.blogspot.com
• All agencies agree that initiatives designed to combat human
trafficking have to concentrate on the three P’s: Prevention,
Protection and Prosecution
Prevention…
•
In the year 2000 the United Nations adopted the ‘Protocol to Prevent,
Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children
•
The Palermo Protocol entered into force on 25th December 2003 and had
been signed and ratified by 117 countries worldwide, including the UK, by
June 2010
•
CET 197 – The Council of Europe Convention on Action Against Trafficking in
Human Beings [Warsaw 2005] entered into force on 1st February 2008 and
had been signed and ratified by 34 European countries, including the UK, by
July 2010. It came into force in the UK on 1st April 2009
•
The UK Government directed SOCA {Serious and Organised Crime Agency}
to take governance of the UK’s anti-trafficking strategy
•
In October 2006 SOCA launched the UKHTC {United Kingdom Human
Trafficking Centre} as a multi-agency decision making body with
responsibility for enforcing the UK Action plan on Tackling Human
Trafficking
•
The UK Action Plan tasks the public, private and voluntary sectors to work
together in a co-ordinated and directed manner to combat the trafficking of
human beings
Prevention > Protection…
• Much work has been done over the last decade, since Palermo, to get
legislation in place worldwide to back the fight against human
trafficking
• It is now key that all agencies involved in the safeguarding of
children and young people adopt best practice regards dealing with
‘trafficking situations’ to ensure compliance with both the UN & UK
Action Plan
• Both safeguarding & non-safeguarding professionals, who may come
across victims of trafficking in their everyday working lives are
directed to ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’ and more
specifically the addendum publication ‘Safeguarding Children Who
May Have Been Trafficked’
• Professionals working in the children’’s workforce should familiarise
themselves with the LSCB’s ‘Trafficked Children Toolkit’ now
accepted by the UKHTC as the most appropriate guidance and
assessment matrix for identifying victims of human trafficking (www.londonscb.gov.uk)
Protection > Prosecution…
•
The UKHTC is the nominated ‘Competent Authority’ (along with the UKBA).
They have responsibility for making decisions as to whether a referred
person is a victim of trafficking
•
Any First Responder that wishes to refer a potential victim of human
trafficking to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) is required to fill out
a standard referral form
•
First Responders are the only people entitled to fill out this form and
currently they are; Police, UK Border Agency (UKBA), Serious Organised
Crime Agency (SOCA), Local Authorities / Social Services, Gangmasters
Licensing Authority (GLA) plus a range of NGO’s and charities working with
victims of trafficking
•
The Competent Authority assesses whether there is ‘reasonable’ or
‘conclusive’ grounds to decide if a referred person is indeed a victim of
trafficking.
•
Victims are given a 45 day reflection period (extendable) to decide whether
they wish to pursue prosecution and / or be repatriated
Prosecution…
• In 2006 there were just 5,808 prosecutions and 3,160 convictions
throughout the world for human trafficking
• Put into perspective, this means that for every 800 people trafficked
just one person was convicted in 2006
• In the UK between 2006 and 2010 109 people were sentenced for
trafficking offences receiving an average custodial sentence of 4yrs
2mths
• In the same period 254,980 people were sentenced for drugs
offences receiving an average custodial sentence of 2yrs 8mths
• This is organised crime on a global scale and if we are to tackle it we
need to be equally well organised in our strategies and responses to
this ‘egregious violation of human rights’
• There are no black and white answers to tackling trafficking – we
need to look at a multi-agency 3P approach differentiated according
to the needs of each individual situation
The Human Trafficking Venn:
Prevention
•Education – tailored packages for
professionals and non - professionals
•Cross border cooperation – countries of
origin, transit & destination
•Campaigning – ASI, Stop the Traffik,
ECPAT, MTV Exit, Blue Blindfold, ATA,
Unchosen, Unseen, CROP, Just Whistle…
•Social Cohesion – involve communities
•Reduce demand
Protection
Prosecution
Multi-Agency
•Improve victim identification
•Support victim service development
& provision
•Enshrine rights-based approach in
policies & programme planning
•Engage public, private and voluntary
sectors
•DO NOT RE-VICTIMISE
•Liaise over necessary use of CP
procedures
•Enact Palermo / simplify laws
•Collaborate with law enforcement
agencies: Police / UKBA / IA
•Confiscation Orders / tougher
sentencing
•Share intelligence: UKHTC /
CEOP / Crimestoppers
•Use contacts and intelligence in
custodial estate – work with
perpetrators?
•Collaborate with & use
SOCA & UNODC
Challenges for Professionals
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Accessing appropriate training
Victim identification
Age assessments
Meeting need
Adopting functioning multi-agency
protocols that work to protect victims
• Children going missing from care –
availability of safe placements
Signposting:
• UKHTC - 0844 778 2406 - www.ukhtc.org
• London LSCB - www.londonscb.gov.uk
• ECPAT - 020 7233 9887 - www.ecpat.org.uk
• NSPCC / CTAIL – 0800 107 7057
• CEOP - 020 7238 2320 / 2307 – www.ceop.gov.uk
• Children’s Legal Centre - 01206 872 466
www.childrenslegalcentre.com
• CFAB – Children & Families Across Borders (ISS) – 020 7735 8941
• CRIMESTOPPERS - 0800 555 111
• www.combattrafficking.eu