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Campaign launched to stop child trafficking
One in five British adults do not believe children are trafficked to the UK even though hundreds are exploited here every year.
Ecpat UK, along with the Body Shop, are campaigning to end the sexual exploitation of children and are demanding the government pledges to look after trafficked children. They often end up in prostitution, domestic servitude, criminal rings or the drug trade.
Ecpat UK said hundreds of children, some as young as 11, from over 50 countries are exploited in the UK every year.
Rachel Davies from Christian charity CARE explains why some of us simply do not believe children are exploited in this way:
“I think child trafficking is such a hidden phenomenon. We do not recognise it and do not know what signs to be looking out for so unfortunately there are some of us in this country that still think it does not happen.”
Last month, the UK's Anti Trafficking Monitoring Group, made up of charities including Amnesty International, Anti-Slavery International and Unicef, said Britain was breaking the European convention against trafficking and was breaching UK law.
An international petition is being launched calling on governments around the world to do all they can to put an end to the situation.
The UK's being specifically asked to look after victims better by ensuring each one gets their own guardian.
Dr Carrie Pemberton from the Cambridge Centre for Applied Research on Human Trafficking explains to Premier what she thinks the main priority should be:
“In an environment where there are cuts all around, arenas around trafficking and safe guarding children should be ring fenced so that we do not start saving money and trying to claw back our national debt and put at risk those children.”
Source: Premier Christian Media
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