In 2024, nearly 6,000 children were identified as potential victims of trafficking in the UK, this figure only includes children identified and referred to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM). Identification of trafficked children is extremely difficult.
In the UK, child protection is devolved, meaning there are differing approaches in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. There are also different trafficking laws across most of these areas (excluding England and Wales, which shares the Modern Slavery Act 2015). International legislation decrees that all those identified as child victims of trafficking have specific rights.
As the understanding of child trafficking, exploitation and modern slavery evolves, there are many definitions or categories in law and policy that are misunderstood, unclear or overlapping. Evidence shows that the lack of consensus, among decision makers and practitioners, around definitions has long remained an impediment to coordination, collaboration, and coherence. This has an impact on the services that affected or at-risk children receive, particularly with regard to identification, reporting and the subsequent response by relevant agencies.
For example, how do practitioners understand the differences between child sexual abuse (CSA) and child sexual exploitation (CSE)? How is child criminal exploitation (CCE) defined? Should all CSE and CCE cases be considered as child trafficking? When does a child’s case meet the threshold for labour exploitation or domestic servitude? What is the difference with adults for each exploitation type?
The questions around different understandings of definitions of child exploitation and their impact on policy and services have been raised by both international and domestic research and practice, including by the Lived Experience Consultees for the Inquiry into Telford Child Sexual Exploitation.
A research project led by ECPAT UK is working to respond to these questions and explore current definitions used in the field of modern slavery in the UK in order to understand their practical application and assess how they are interpreted by frontline professionals.
The team is assessing how these definitions impact children’s cases. These include potential harm owing to practitioners’ misunderstanding and application of definitions and the consequent impact on young people’s lives including their sense of self and wellbeing.
The methodology includes a literature review of peer-reviewed articles and grey literature to analyse varying definitions of child exploitation, aiming to identify best practices for UK policy recommendations. The team is undertaking desk-based research to examine legal and policy definitions, including how different public sector actors interpret them. Empirical data collection includes a consultation workshop with ECPAT UK’s Youth Advisory Group, field research through at least 20 interviews with child protection professionals across the UK, and a survey of professionals in the sector, all aimed at informing policy improvements.
Project team: Laura Durán and Leah Davison, ECPAT UK
The project is co-commissioned by the Modern Slavery and Human Rights Policy and Evidence Centre and the UK Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner.
