Seeking out the unreported

Bharti Patel admits she has her work cut out in her new role. The chief executive of Ecpat UK (End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and the Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes) took up the reins in December at a tough time for the organisation.

High-profile cases during the past 12 months have pushed child trafficking and child sexual exploitation up the political agenda, but money to improve responses is hard to find and charities are struggling to make ends meet.

In addition to this, the departure of former Ecpat chief executive Christine Beddoe, who had been in charge since 2004, left an air of uncertainty over the future direction of the charity.

“It has been a huge period of reflection for the organisation,” says Patel, who was working in India before returning to the UK last year. “Not just for me as the new member of the team coming in, but for existing members of the team who have had eight years of working with one leader who has achieved amazing success in that period.

“There are questions about how the new leader will take the organisation forward and maintain the existing credibility it already has – not just among parliamentarians, but supporters of the cause as well. It has been very challenging.”

Although Patel is crafting her own plans for the organisation, she says Ecpat’s immediate focus is on pursuing campaigns initiated by her predecessor.

Special guardianship
These campaigns include pressing for the introduction of a system of special guardianship for trafficked children; ensuring child victims are placed in safe accommodation; and pushing for the creation of an independent national lead on child trafficking. All three of these campaigns started in 2009.

She is concerned about the lack of government action on these objectives in that time, but appears keen to try the “carrot” approach before resorting to the “stick”.

“The work that Christine did has led to Ecpat sitting on various advisory boards and non-governmental forums, which gives us the reach we need to influence the debate and discussion around the measures that are required,” she says.

“There is such a change in the way the government now sees the third sector and the way it can influence policy formulation, and it needs to be capitalised upon.”

However, immediate government action on introducing a guardianship system appears unlikely.

Under a 2011 European Union directive, the government had to introduce a system for appointing a guardian or representative who would be responsible for the welfare of child trafficking victims by 6 April this year. But this has not happened.

Patel notes that Scotland has been running a pilot project since September 2010 where a guardian is appointed to act as a link between all services and professionals who work with trafficked children. This, she says, should be replicated elsewhere in the UK. “We need to help children through the process by giving them someone who can advocate on their behalf and help them make informed decisions.”

Patel says Ecpat is exploring the ramifications of the government missing the EU deadline and whether it represents a breach of its legal obligations. But she is reluctant to commit to taking legal action over the matter.

Another focus is safe accommodation. Between 2008 and 2011, around a third of trafficked children went missing from local authority care. Patel says traffickers all too often have easy access to their victims, even when they are in local authority care.

“It’s quite clear from the number of children who go missing that the accommodation is not safe,” Patel says. “It is not about locking them up, but making sure they are safe and are able to integrate with the community at the same time.”

To this end, the charity is in talks with a social enterprise over how to develop a new model that costs no more than existing provision. Patel says several local authorities have expressed an interest in piloting it. “We believe this can be a good model that the government can consider as a programme that can be rolled out.”

Tip of the iceberg
Patel is keen to highlight the true scale of child trafficking. The National Referral Mechanism for trafficking victims dealt with 234 children in 2011, but the number – which refers only to reported cases – is thought to represent just a small proportion of the true figure. “It is the tip of the iceberg,” Patel says. “Nobody can say at the moment what the true extent is.”

Her solution is the appointment of a national rapporteur, which has already happened in the Netherlands and Finland.

The rapporteur would report annually to the government on the nature and scale of human trafficking, the mechanisms that play a role in trafficking, the developments taking place in the field and the effect of relevant policy.

“This is a hidden problem,” Patel says. “The figures available are not a true reflection of the extent of the situation in the UK. A national rapporteur can assess the scale of the problem, analyse the impact of protective provisions and make recommendations for the government to improve on this.”

Aside from these ongoing campaigns, Patel has identified train