Trafficking booklet for social care staff

Information on child trafficking is set to be included in a booklet
informing people who work with children what to do if they suspect
a child is being abused.

The measure has come out of a meeting earlier this month between
the campaigning group End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and
the Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes UK and children’s
minister Margaret Hodge.

Ecpat acting campaigns co-ordinator Carron Somerset said that the
new version of the booklet would be made available to all social
workers. The move follows her earlier report on how social services
in London deal with child trafficking, which found that social
workers often felt they needed more information on the issue.

Somerset said she was pleased with the decision but said there was
“some reluctance” from the minister to acknowledge the scale of
child trafficking in the UK and therefore the need for dedicated
support for social workers.