Continuing trade: Trafficking of children in the 21 st Century

1. Continuing trade: Trafficking of children in the 21st Century Dr Aidan McQuade Director – Anti-Slavery International

2. Definitions of Slavery and forced labour • The Slavery Convention, 1926 “Slavery is the status or condition of a person over whom any or all of the powers attaching to the right of ownership are exercised” • Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, The Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery, 1956 “Debt bondage, serfdom, forced marriage and the delivery of a child for the exploitation of that child are all slavery like practices and require criminalisation and abolishment” • The Forced Labour Convention 1930 (ILO Convention No.29) “All work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty for which the said person has not offered himself voluntarily”

3. Scale of problem • At least 12.3 million people in slavery today (International Labour Organization) – some reckon figure closer to 27 million • ILO Global Report on Forced Labour (2005) estimates that 40 – 50% of forced labourers are children

4. Contemporary Slavery • Trafficking into forced labour and sexual exploitation • Debt bondage • Forced recruitment • Descent based slavery • Worst forms of child labour under ILO convention 182

5. Trafficking • “The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of forceor other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefitsto achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation… Child shall mean anyone under 18 years of age“ - UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, Article 3 Protocol to Prevent, Suppress & Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women & Children, (2000) (the ‘Palmero Protocol’)

6. Trafficking • Form of slavery most prevalent in Europe and the US • ILO estimates 2.4 million people are trafficked globally • This is worth 32 billion US dollars annually • In industrialised countries at least 270,000 people are trafficked worth approximately USD 15.5 billion

7. Child trafficking in the UK • Since 2007: CEOP identified 1,144 children suspected of being trafficked into the UK • Of these 301 children missing from care • National Referral Mechanism: 1 in 4 referrals are for children

8. Of the children identified as trafficked by the National Referral Mechanism • 45 girls and two boys were trafficked for sexual exploitation • 12 girls and seven boys were trafficked for domestic servitude • 34 boys an 13 girls were trafficked for forced labour • In 30 cases (half boys and half girls) the form of exploitation was not known

9. Also • Children trafficked for enforced criminality – dvd sales, cannabis farms, pick-pocketing • Fraud • Witchcraft

10. Individual responsibilty • All practitioners who come into contact with children in their everyday work need to be able to recognise children who have been trafficked and be competent to act and support and protect these children from harm – HM Government “Safeguarding Children who may have been trafficked”https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/eOrderingDownload/DCSF_Child%20Trafficking.pdf

11. Causes of slavery Discrimination and social exclusion Poverty Government neglect

12. Key issues • Identification • Culture of disbelief • Age assessment • Lack of guardianship • Poor co-ordination amongst professionals • Lack of suitably qualified legal representation

13. Consequently • Prosecution of children rather than protection e.g. cannabis factories • Loss of children from care • Risk of re-trafficking

14. Evidence of child trafficking in the UK

15. Protecting children from trafficking and re-trafficking • Example of Hillingdon Borough Council identified as good practice • Other key measures • Restricting children’s use of phone • Giving children note of address and phone number if in difficulties • Taking photo of child’s face on entry to safe accommodation • Accompanying children at risk on outings for at least one month • Inform foster parents or supervisors of trafficking risks

16. Trafficking of children also a major issue in international business • Forced labour identified in African • Mines – Coltan for mobile phones • Agriculture – including cocoa • Bonded labour identified in South Asian • Agriculture • Cotton production • Brick kilns • Quarries and mines • Garment and fabric manufacture • NB these lists are not exhaustive

17. Insufficient attention to trafficking aid policy • Little attention of governments on addressing causes of child trafficking in the children’s countries of origin

18. Conclusions • No simple solutions rather complex processes in which everyone has a role

19. Remember It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance – Bobby Kennedy, South Africa, 1966

20. Thank you • Any questions?