Police in London help victims of trafficking

Police in London opened a free helpline at the beginning of June for victims of human trafficking, which has been a growing problem in Britain. Although most cases brought to the attention of the authorities involve sex-trafficking, many people are brought into the United Kingdom to work as slave-labourers. Even worse, many of the victims are children.

“Child trafficking to the UK has been a phenomenon that has been growing year on year,” says Christine Beddoe, the Director of ECPAT UK, which battles child trafficking in Britain. She says the hotline is a good start, but more must be done to help child victims.

“Whilst we welcome any initiative around human trafficking, particularly from the police, we have to be realistic that children aren’t in a situation where they can make phone calls freely, they don’t often identify themselves as being trafficked,” she told Vatican Radio. “What we needed is a more proactive approach, with people looking for trafficked children, rather than expecting children themselves taking it on - to be able to get access to a phone, to be literate enough to understand the phone numbers. We welcome the initiatives but it does have limitations when it comes to children.”

Listen to the full interview by Charles Collins with Christine Beddoe: