Survivor-informed support for trafficked children in Scotland: Research summary

Abstract

Improving outcomes for separated children and young people who have experienced human trafficking is a major and urgent challenge facing the UK. While the exploitation experiences and immediate support needs of separated children who have experienced trafficking are well documented in research, the evidence base on what happens in the longer term for children and young people – and how they feel about it – is more limited.

Once children and young people move beyond this stage, the spotlight on them fades. This study sought to extend the timeframe to explore short, medium and long-term experiences of support and recovery. The study directly involved children and young people who had made their homes in the UK, eliciting narratives of recovery with a focus on their choices as well as needs, alongside data recorded by, or gathered from, professionals.

The aim was to improve understanding of what constitutes sustainable support over a longer timeframe, thus offering valuable insights for all those working with this group of children and young people, in the UK and internationally. The number of potential human trafficking victims in the UK is usually recorded by referrals to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM).