Trafficked children need dedicated guardians
As the director of Britain's only children's charity dedicated to campaigning against child trafficking, I routinely find myself making complaints to local authorities about the lack of care provided to trafficked child victims of rape, extreme violence and trauma.
The "culture of disbelief" and, at times, blatant discrimination undoubtedly increase such children's vulnerability to the risk of being trafficked again. A guardian appointed at the earliest stages would ensure a full protection package wrapped around the child and reduce the chances of the child being lured away. A guardian would also give a trafficked child a much better chance of receiving the care and attention he or she deserves.
I once wrote to a director of children's services to complain that a 16-year-old girl in her care, having been trafficked, sexually and physically abused, and having been discharged from hospital after the birth of her baby, was accommodated in a filthy bedsit infested with cockroaches. Not long after that I had to send a staff member to remove a trafficked child from an abusive foster care placement even though the child had reported the abuse to her social worker.
It's not at all unusual to hear social work managers tell trafficked children that they can't afford to offer them education, as if it is a luxury. However it's not just social work teams that need scrutiny. The UK Border Agency routinely accuses children of lying and fails to pass on information about trafficking allegations to police. The children we work with want justice and they don't understand why they aren't getting it. However much Ecpat UK and other voluntary organisations want to help we do not hold "parental responsibility", a concept introduced by the Children Act 1989 that means all the rights, duties and responsibilities that a parent has to a child.
A guardian appointed by the court holds parental responsibility and has authority to make decisions about what is in children's best interest taking into consideration the child's views. Trafficked children need someone who has parental responsibility, to scrutinise and challenge care plans and immigration decisions, follow up police investigations, consent to medical treatment, instruct lawyers and ultimately be the one person they can turn to whom they can trust.
Three quarters of a million people signed a petition for guardianship, politicians from all parties are asking for it and European law demands it. The test of this government will be whether it embraces guardianship as a model to give the most vulnerable children more control over their destiny and divert them from poverty and despair.
Christine Beddoe is the UK director of the Ecpat charity, which is dedicated to preventing child exploitation
Source: guardian.co.uk
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