Refugees with children wait for a transport after fleeing the war from neighbouring Ukraine
(Picture: AP)Children fleeing Ukraine could be at risk of sexual exploitation, abuse, county lines drug dealing or forced labour, experts warned on Wednesday.
The Children’s Society (TCS) called for urgent action to be taken to protect children from exploitation, particularly in the light of the war in Ukraine which could see the number of vulnerable lone children, including those trafficked to the UK, increase.
It comes as ONS data shows only 185 prosecutions have been carried out following the introduction of the Modern Slavery Act in 2015, despite 21,000 children being identified as potential victims.
Only half of the prosecutions were successful. TCS policy manager Iryna Pona said: “The war makes the need for action even more pressing, raising the prospect of vulnerable children... making their way to the UK.
“The risk of these children being targeted for exploitation is extremely high, while others may be trafficked here.”
The ONS has brought together data on child victims of modern slavery from a range of different organisations for the first time in an attempt to better understand the nature of the crime.
The data shows the number of child victims identified by the police and through the National Referral Mechanism continues to increase.
Helen Ross, from the ONS Centre for Crime and Justice, said: “Modern slavery… is a hidden crime with victims often unable to come forward due to fear or shame.”
