Child Sex Trafficking in England and Wales: The Need to Address the Gaps in Knowledge

Events — Event LAB 107, Anglia Ruskin University Cambridge Campus East Road Cambridge CB1 1PT
5 September 2022, 10:00

A workshop for Child Protection Practitioners. Funded by Cambridgeshire Council alongside the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at ARU.

There has been significant progress implementing laws concerning Child Sex Trafficking (CST) in England and Wales. Nevertheless, it is still difficult to guarantee safe outcomes for children and young people (CYP), notwithstanding the abundant and positive work of Social Workers.

The NCA (2022) National Referral Mechanism (NRM) statistics indicate that CST is perhaps the fastest growing form of modern slavery in the UK. The number of CST victims has risen every year and between 2013 and 2021 there has been a rise of over 1206% By drawing on findings from a qualitative study into Social Workers understanding of CST, this research has identified gaps that restrict Social Workers from recognising, responding, and reporting CST accurately.

Social Workers as first responders are legally bound to safeguard children and young people (CYP) and then refer them into the NRM process which offers additional support to potential victims of CST. However, research findings have demonstrated that nonexistence of standalone CST and NRM training has impacted upon Social Workers ability to apply provisions and correct instruments such as the NRM when required to do so by law.

Speakers: Simon Kerss and Carter Smith.

London / UK - 2020.09.05: People with banners and placards shouting at Save Our Children Protest against Children Trafficking.
London / UK - 2020.09.05: People with banners and placards shouting at Save Our Children Protest against Children Trafficking.

Event contact:  paul.nelson@aru.ac.uk