Hundreds of British children could be being trafficked, Barnardo's says

Hundreds of British children may be being groomed for sexual exploitation by networks of men, suggests research from a children’s charity. Organised gangs are gaining the trust of vulnerable young girls by showering them with gifts and affection, before plying them with alcohol and drugs, according to a report out today.  These vulnerable children are then trafficked with the UK, being moved from city to city, where they are forced to have sex.

Thousands of British children could be being sold for sex around the country, but less than a fifth of local authorities have any kind of specialist service to spot and deal with youngsters forced in to the sex trade. Sadder still, many children believe what has happened is their fault, and are so ashamed they never speak out about the abuse they suffer, campaigners say. The Whose Child Now? Report, by the charity Barnado’s showed that in just 20 out of 209 local authorities, Barnardo's worked with, 1,060 children and young people had been sexually exploited in the last year. And if that figure is reflected in other parts of the country, it could add up to as many as 10,000 youngsters. And out of the 609 children the charity is currently working with, 90 – or one in six – were trafficked in to the country. Yet in England, in 2007 there were only 25 court proceedings on the grounds of trafficking for sexual exploitation with only 15 guilty verdicts.

Imogen was 13 when the man she thought was her boyfriend started driving her around the country, taking her to hotels in Leeds, Bradford, Manchester and London for nights at a time. "Some men asked 'How old is she?'" she told Barnado’s researchers. "Some asked 'Have you got any younger?' They were really sick, said Imogen, (not her real name). "It's really hard to talk about girls being trafficked in this country; no one wants to believe it... I wanted to escape, but he just controlled me. It was a mental thing – I was terrified." The chief executive of Barnardo's, former prison service director-general Martin Narey, said he was left shocked by spending a night with the charity’s services. "I was very, very struck by the poverty, desperation and hopelessness of these young girls. "We don't know the true extent of this problem," Narey said. "But we know, however hidden from the public eye it might be, that it affects many thousands of children."