Report art by the amazing T.B. -artist and ECPAT UK Youth Advisory Group member

The report calls on the government to:
🔸 Introduce a child exploitation definition and strategy
🔸 Align legal definitions with international standards
🔸 Introduce independent review mechanisms to scrutinise NRM decision-making
📖 Read it here: bit.ly/4nTZDpP

👉 Other affected nationalities of children with very high rates of definition based refusals include 35% for Sudanese, 30% for Albanian, and 25% for Eritrean.

👉 There are significant issues in Home Office decisions for some nationalities with UK children receiving 7% negative decisions for not meeting definitions in contrast to 59% for Iranian children and 43% for Afghani.

👉 We also found some UK definitions of human trafficking focus on travel, which leads to narrower thresholds and excluding children exploited online or locally, particularly British children.
#ChildTrafficking

👉 The report also found that definitions are undermining the identification and protection of children who were exploited in forms such as sexual, labour and criminal exploitation, or domestic servitude.

Without these changes, the report warns that trafficked children face heightened risks of re-exploitation and instability. The lack of long-term support undermines their recovery, leaving them vulnerable to further harm.
🚨 tinyurl.com/2pt4dynm

The report calls on the urgent repeal of damaging provisions in the Nationality and Borders Act 2022 and the Illegal Migration Act 2023, which rolled back children’s rights and hinder the protection of trafficked children.

We also urge the UK Government to invest in children’s services and long-term prevention with a cross-departmental and UK-wide Child Exploitation Strategy to combat this terrible criminal abuse of children.

The report calls for the UK Home Office to provide confirmed child victims of trafficking with a minimum five-year grant of immigration leave and a clear route to settlement, ensuring compliance with international obligations and prioritising children’s best interests.