Inter-agency guidance on child trafficking

2. Scope and Purpose of Guidance

For the purposes of this guidance, a 'child' is a person under the age of 18 as defined by the Palermo Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the UN Convention Against Transnational Organisational Crime and Directive 2011/36/ EU.

Working with children and young people who are or have been involved in child trafficking is a complex area and presently there is very limited theoretical and conceptual understanding of the phenomenon or evidence regarding its prevalence in Scotland. The purpose of this toolkit is to present a strategic inter agency framework to respond to the need to protect children and young people who are at risk of child trafficking in the context of current available evidence and the policy initiatives.

This toolkit is designed as Scottish practice guidance to be read in conjunction with the Scottish Government National Child Protection Guidance in Scotland and other relevant national and international papers. The National Child Protection Guidance remains the primary guidance document for child protection and vulnerability investigations. The identification, or not, of child trafficking victims should not preclude or override any child protection investigations.

The aim of this guidance is to -

• Raise awareness of child trafficking within agencies
• Support the investigation and prosecution of those who coerce, exploit and abuse children
• Raise awareness of indicators of child trafficking
• Facilitate a consistent response and approach to children and young people involved in trafficking.
• Support and encourage staff from all agencies across Scotland to work collaboratively in developing and delivering appropriate and effective services to individual children and young people with experience of child trafficking.