Scottish children trafficked into sex slavery and forced marriage Holyrood hears

They said 60 children from Scotland have been reported to the authorities via the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) which provides a framework for identifying victims of trafficking.

MSPs are taking evidence on the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Bill – currently making its way through the parliament.

Child protection experts, including Dr Paul Rigby at Stirling University, noted that there have been 60 child referrals to the National Crime Agency’s UK Human Trafficking Centre as well as the Home Office since 2012.

The submission states: “Since 2012 there have been 60 child referrals to the Competent Authorities from Scotland, as recorded by the National Referral Mechanism official statistics.

“Children referred to the NRM have been victims of various types of exploitation and abuse including sexual abuse, commercial sexual exploitation, domestic servitude, forced marriage, physical abuse, criminality, benefits fraud and female genital mutilation. Research in Glasgow has indicated that for nearly half of the children identified as trafficked there is evidence of multiple exploitative situations.”

Kevin Hyland, the UK’s independent anti-slavery commissioner warned that there are children being trafficked around the UK for sexual exploitation, frequently by their own families.

Daljeet Dagon, of Barnardo’s Scotland, said the number of children being trafficked for sexual exploitation is likely to be higher than the figures reported to the authorities.

She said: “Children and young people are being moved for sexual exploitation.

“It doesn’t even have to happen from one part of the country to another, it can be one street to another or one house to another.

“The awareness of that as an issue hasn’t always been there, but it’s a significant feature in terms of the sexual exploitation of children.”

In addition, the submission states that the NRM process treats children as “mini adults” – which means they did not receive the appropriate level of care and attention commensurate with their age.