Child trafficking and modern slavery are child abuse. Many children and young people are trafficked into the UK from other countries like Vietnam, Albania and Romania. Children are also trafficked around the UK.
Trafficking is where children and young people tricked, forced or persuaded to leave their homes and are moved or transported and then exploited, forced to work or sold. Children are trafficked for:
Trafficked children experience many types of abuse and neglect. Traffickers use physical, sexual and emotional abuse as a form of control. Children and young people are also likely to be physically and emotionally neglected and may be sexually exploited.
It can be difficult to know what you can do if you're worried about a child. The NSPCC has information and advice to help you feel confident in taking the next steps to keep children and young people safe.
Please see Pan Bedfordshire Inter-agency Child Protection Procedure - Children from Abroad, including Victims of Modern Slavery, Trafficking and Exploitation for more information.
GOV.UK's web pages on modern slavery bring together documents and promotional material related to the government’s work to end modern slavery and information about how the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) is used to identify and refer potential victims of modern slavery and make sure they receive appropriate support.
Bedfordshire Against Violence and Exploitation (BAVEX) is the countywide campaign to raise awareness and reporting on all forms of exploitation, especially those linked to organised crime. This includes things like county lines, modern slavery, cuckooing, human trafficking and child sexual exploitation.
Please visit our Safeguarding Bedfordshire website for more information.
For more information regarding the suitability of a course please choose the ‘Training Pathways’ option on the homepage or contact the Safeguarding Bedfordshire training team at LearningCentral@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk