From April 2007 to March 2009, there was a total of 201 prosecutions, while between January 2007 and December 2009 there were 73 convictions for human trafficking in the UK, making the conviction rate for cases prosecuted 45 per cent at best.
This is significantly lower than conviction rates for rape, traditionally seen as a low mark, which in 2008 stood at 58 per cent.
The statistics are set out in a letter seen by CYP Now from security minister Baroness Neville-Jones to crossbench peer Lord Elystan Morgan.
Christine Beddoe, director of End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and the Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes (ECPAT UK), said the conviction rate for child trafficking is a profound problem. She cited current legislation as an issue, as prosecutors have to prove double intent: by the offender to move a person across a national border, as well as intent to exploit them.
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