Improving survivor-informed support for trafficked children and young people - it's a long-term commitment

确保在现代奴隶制下幸存下来的儿童和年轻人获得更好的结果是联合王国面临的一项重大而紧迫的挑战。在截至2019年3月的一年中，英国各地有超过3，000名无人陪伴的儿童申请庇护（内政部2019年），2020年夏季在海峡过境点附近发生的事件表明，仅在肯特就有400多名新移民。数据表明，大约40%的无人陪伴儿童有被贩运和剥削的迹象（苏格兰监护服务）。如果没有以儿童为中心、可采取行动的适当政策和干预措施，在儿童未来的整个道路上都有效，就可能继续面临被拉回到剥削环境的威胁，虽然研究充分记录了失散儿童的剥削经历和眼前的支助需求，但关于贩运儿童受害者/幸存者中期、特别是长期轨迹的证据基础有限。大多数支助评价侧重于贩运情况和查明后立即出现的需求。一旦儿童和青年人超越了这一阶段，对他们的关注就会消退。迄今为止，还没有更广泛的研究专门调查受害者/幸存者的长期需求或考虑服务的潜在效力和可持续性。缺乏证据限制了规划和提供有效服务的政策和实践努力。因此，迫切需要应对这一挑战，填补这一知识空白。拟议的研究旨在解决这一确切的政策和实践挑战和知识空白。它超越了以前研究的时间范围，探索短期，中期和长期的恢复经验，直接涉及在英国安家的儿童和年轻人。我们将通过三种方式做到这一点。首先，我们将使用苏格兰监护服务（SGS）的数据，该服务于2010年成立，为抵达苏格兰的所有无人陪伴的寻求庇护儿童提供支持，特别关注贩运受害者。苏格兰支持被贩运儿童的做法被认为是以儿童为中心、以人权为基础的做法的良好典范，但人们对这些服务的长期有效性和可持续性知之甚少。我们将以SGS为工具，利用10年来在对移民日益不利的移民环境中提供的支持和宣传，而不需要对儿童和年轻人进行进一步的、可能造成创伤的访谈，了解他们的剥削经历。第二，我们将采访正在接受或已经接受短期、中期和长期支助的受害者/幸存者。我们将询问他们在康复相关阶段的需求和选择，他们得到的支持以及康复对他们意味着什么。这些面谈将侧重于服务的经历，而不是剥削的经历。同样，我们将采访支持受害者/幸存者的专业人员，包括警察局、SGS工作人员、社会工作者、教育工作者和寄养者。我们将询问他们关于儿童和青少年在不同阶段的需求，服务提供的支持以及康复对他们的意义。第三，我们将与年轻人和其他人一起使用创造性的方法，从不同的角度共同制作康复故事。基于这些叙述的资源，包括动画和案例研究，将侧重于帮助或阻碍儿童和青年在不同阶段茁壮成长的能力。随着英国各地被贩运儿童的数量增加，他们面临的独特挑战不能再次被忽视。一个更强有力的证据基础，加上更长的时间框架，将更好地为政策和服务的提供信息。在年轻人的见解的指导下，研究结果将解决在一个新国家蓬勃发展的旅程中的支持，恢复和结果的长期性质。

Ensuring better outcomes for children and young people who survive modern slavery is a major and urgent challenge facing the UK. Across the UK over 3,000 unaccompanied children claimed asylum in the year to March 2019 (Home Office 2019) and events in summer 2020 around channel crossings indicate upwards of 400 new arrivals in Kent alone. Data suggests that approximately 40% of unaccompanied children evidence indicators of trafficking and exploitation (Scottish Guardianship Services). Without appropriate child-centred, actionable policies and interventions that are effective throughout a child's future pathways, there may be a continued threat of being drawn back into exploitative circumstances.While the exploitation experiences and immediate support needs of separated children are well documented in research, the evidence base on child trafficking victims/survivors' medium and especially longer-term trajectories is limited. The majority of evaluations of support focus on stories of trafficking and needs immediately after identification. Once children and young people move beyond this stage, the spotlight on them recedes. To date, no wider study has specifically investigated victims/survivors' longer-term needs or considered the potential effectiveness and sustainability of services. This lack of evidence is restricting policy and practice efforts to plan and provide effective services. Consequently, there is an urgent need to address this challenge and fill this knowledge gap.The proposed study is designed to address this exact policy and practice challenge and knowledge gap. It moves beyond the timeframe of previous research to explore short, medium and long term experiences of recovery, directly involving children and young people who have made their homes in the UK. We will do this in three ways. First, we will use data from the Scottish Guardianship service (SGS), established in 2010 to provide support for all unaccompanied asylum-seeking children arriving in Scotland, with a particular focus on victims of trafficking. The Scottish approach to support for trafficked children has been recognised as a good exemplar of a child centred, human rights-based practice, but little is known about the long-term effectiveness and sustainability of these services. Using SGS as a vehicle, we will draw on 10 years' of support and advocacy delivered in an increasingly hostile immigration environment for migrants, without the need for further, potentially traumatic, interviews of children and young people on their exploitative experiences. Second, we will interview victims/survivors who are receiving or have received short, medium and long term support. We will ask them about their needs and choices at relevant stages of their recovery, the support they received and what recovery means to them. These interviews will focus on experience of services rather than of exploitation. Similarly, we will interview professionals who support victims/survivors, including police offices, SGS workers, social workers, educators and foster carers. We will ask them about children and young people's needs at different stages, the support that services provide and what recovery means to them.Third, we will work with young people and others using creative methods to co-produce narratives of recovery from different perspectives. Resources based on these narratives, including an animation and case studies, will focus on what helps or hinders children and young people's capacity to thrive at different stages. As the numbers of trafficked children identified across the UK rise, it is vital that the unique challenges they face are not once again overlooked. A stronger evidence base, with an extended timeframe, will better inform policy and provision of services. Guided by the insights of young people, study findings will address the longer term nature of support, recovery and outcomes on the journey to thriving in a new country.