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Modern Slavery PEC podcastAuthor: Modern Slavery PEC
The podcast from the Modern Slavery and Human Rights Policy and Evidence Centre is where we discuss evidence and research to support good law and policy to protect people from modern slavery. We talk to researchers about evidence they uncover in their research. We want to find out what practical impact on policies, laws and practice our research can have, and in turn what impact it can have on real peoples lives. Language: en Genres: Science, Social Sciences Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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Lunchtime seminar: Definitions of child exploitation
Episode 20
Monday, 28 July, 2025
This podcast is the recording of a Modern Slavery PEC lunchtime seminar, launching a research report on how definitions affect the UK’s response to child trafficking. In 2024, nearly 6,000 children were identified as potential victims of trafficking in the UK. This figure only includes children identified and referred to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM). Identification of trafficked children is extremely difficult. As the understanding of child trafficking, exploitation and modern slavery evolves, there are many definitions or categories in law and policy that are misunderstood, unclear or overlapping. Evidence shows that the lack of consensus among decision makers and practitioners around definitions has long remained an impediment to coordination, collaboration, and coherence. This has an impact on the services that affected or at-risk children receive, particularly with regard to identification, reporting and the subsequent response by relevant agencies. For example, how do practitioners understand the differences between child sexual abuse (CSA) and child sexual exploitation (CSE)? How is child criminal exploitation (CCE) defined? Should all CSE and CCE cases be considered child trafficking? When does a child’s case meet the threshold for labour exploitation or domestic servitude? What is the difference with adults for each exploitation type? On Tuesday 22 July 2025, we published a research report led by ECPAT UK that aimed to respond to these questions and explore how these definitions impact cases of children who have been exploited. At this event, the co-author of the report, Laura Duran from ECPAT UK, presented the findings of the research. The project was co-commissioned by the UK Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner and the Modern Slavery and Human Rights PEC. You can read about it here.
