Robbie Williams –
More Precious Than Gold
Based around a poem by Simon Armitage, this short film gives a chilling insight into the horrors of child trafficking.
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Child trafficking
Every year, worldwide, an estimated 1.2 million children are “trafficked” into prostitution, domestic slavery or other exploitative labour.
The victims come from developing and industrialised countries. They are transported internally and across borders. But all are destined for ruthless exploitation.
The children most vulnerable to trafficking are poor and uneducated. Girls are particularly at risk. Some are abducted or kidnapped, others sold by their parents. Others, like Nang, believe they are being offered “respectable” work in a wealthier country. In poverty-stricken Togo, West Africa, the offer of a bicycle or a radio is enough to lure a child into the clutches of traffickers.
But the “job” is not what it seems. Boys from Bangladesh are set to work in the sweatshops of India. Girls from West Africa are sold into domestic slavery in England. Children from Albania are forced to work as beggars in Greece. And the vast majority of trafficked children are forced into prostitution.
Once separated from their family they can become malnourished and neglected, and are subjected to violence and sexual abuse. They are also at risk of HIV infection.
Trafficked children are driven by fear. Their traffickers control them with threats, rape, violence and drugs. They are told that if they escape, their family will be killed; if they seek help, they will be deported. Children who do return home suffer low self-esteem and discrimination.
Not only does trafficking violate every child’s right to be protected and grow up in a family, it also deprives them of education and opportunity.
UNICEF is working to combat trafficking worldwide. Our projects range from providing safe houses and skills training centres for victims, to campaigns for legal reform. But this complex crime – involving a chain of people, from professional recruiters to truck drivers and corrupt officials – can only be ended with a co-ordinated global response.
You can help child victims of trafficking now by writing to your MP. Take action today
Child trafficking in the UK
The idea of slavery in modern Britain is abhorrent. But the UK is a destination for the growing child trafficking trade.
Children are transported from as far afield as China and West Africa. They arrive in the backs of lorries or on planes, alone or with a “boyfriend”. (Typically, he has promised marriage and a better life; on arrival, he forces his “girlfriend” into prostitution.)
While the majority work in the sex trade, some are trafficked for cheap labour and domestic slavery. But because they live with relatives or “friends”, such exploitation can stay hidden for years – as in the horrific case of Victoria Climbié, a child from the Ivory Coast. Her parents thought she was enjoying a better life with her great aunt in London. Instead she was exploited for benefit fraud, neglected, abused and finally murdered.
Most trafficked children only come to the attention of the UK authorities when they escape or are found in a raid.
UNICEF UK is calling on the UK Government to help prevent children falling into the hands of traffickers, and to protect children rescued from trafficking. We want:
You can help child victims of trafficking now by writing to your MP. Take action today.
