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Separated and Trafficked Children: The Challenges for Child Protection Professionals
Author(s) -
Rigby Paul
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
child abuse review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.569
H-Index - 41
eISSN - 1099-0852
pISSN - 0952-9136
DOI - 10.1002/car.1193
Subject(s) - safeguarding , child protection , psychological intervention , work (physics) , identification (biology) , compromise , poison control , human factors and ergonomics , occupational safety and health , suicide prevention , psychology , public relations , nursing , criminology , medicine , political science , medical emergency , law , engineering , mechanical engineering , botany , biology
Unaccompanied asylum‐seeking children are one of the most vulnerable groups of children and those who have been trafficked present with additional needs, posing new challenges for child protection professionals. Drawing on a research programme commissioned to inform policy and practice in Glasgow, this paper identifies issues emerging for practitioners working with separated children who have been trafficked. The commitment of frontline staff and increased multiagency working appear to be positive aspects of the work. Initial identification and assessment present a major challenge for reasons including cultural issues, the trauma and fear of children affecting engagement and the potential for ongoing contact with traffickers to compromise safeguarding. Trafficking is a particularly complex area of child protection work, made more problematic by the international dimensions to the trade and the absence of a clear definition and conceptual framework that can fully inform interventions and practice. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. ‘Initial identification and assessment present a major challenge’