Children: Sexual Abuse

Baroness Doocey Excerpts

Tuesday 15th October 2013 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Doocey (LD)]

My Lords, I, too, thank the noble Baroness, Lady Howarth, for providing this opportunity to debate such an important issue. In the short time available, I would like to concentrate on the issue of child trafficking. Most of the children trafficked into, within and from the UK are trafficked for the purpose of abuse. The UK Human Trafficking Centre’s annual assessment identified more than 2,000 potential victims of human trafficking in 2012. Of these, 549 were children—a 12% increase from 2011. Some 152 children were believed to have been trafficked solely for sexual exploitation. The other 397 children were trafficked for criminal exploitation, such as benefit fraud and cannabis cultivation. They may also have been victims of sexual abuse, a tactic often used to control victims. These figures represent only the tip of the iceberg. The true scale of the problem is not recognised because many front-line practitioners do not understand the concept of trafficking and do not identify children who are showing signs of being trafficked. Unless and until these professionals and their managers receive the necessary training, trafficked children will continue to go under the radar and be put at risk of significant harm.

One of the great success stories in the battle against trafficking was Operation Paladin Child at Heathrow Airport, which did some superb work. Despite this, though, it was merged in 2010 with the Child Protection Unit. The Child Protection Unit has now been merged into the Met’s rape command, and the Paladin team now operates only part-time. These mergers risk a loss of focus and, more importantly, a loss of specialist skills. We need clear assurances that protective measures are not being weakened.

We should welcome the Director of Public Prosecution’s guidelines for prosecutors on how to tackle cases involving child sexual abuse. They are intended to improve the criminal justice system process for children, both as witnesses and as victims. However, this guidance should be extended to cover all forms of exploitation, including all child victims of trafficking.

The report from the Refugee Council and the Children’s Society, Still at Risk, presents a sober analysis of what has gone wrong. What stands out is the failure of professionals to act on indicators of abuse when the child has no documentation to prove their age, leading many children to be pushed into the adult immigration system without protection. Giving children the benefit of the doubt, an obligation already embedded in various conventions and directives, could so easily rectify this. I would be grateful if the Minister could let the House know if and how the Government are planning to implement the report’s recommendations.

It might surprise some Peers and members of the public that at present there is no specific offence of child trafficking in law. Instead, it is an aggravating factor in various pieces of legislation that apply to adults and children. This is just not good enough. The Government should therefore consider including separate child-specific offences before introducing the forthcoming modern slavery Bill.

Tackling the problem of child trafficking will not create huge costs. It is mostly about raising awareness and using existing resources and powers more effectively. The present approach clearly is not working, and there is neither a moral or financial case for leaving things as they are.