A new report from the Anti-Trafficking Monitoring Group (ATMG) comprised of 12 charities has called on the Government to pay closer attention to the special needs of trafficking victims who have children or are pregnant.

Although the report identifies some areas of good practice on the ground it found that there is a lack of any formal recognition in Government policies of how being pregnant or having children impacts on a victim of trafficking and their need for support.

This lack of attention means that for some victims accessing appropriate accommodation, ante-natal support and other services becomes difficult. Whilst some service providers recognise these needs, this is not always the case. With no requirement from Government to address the special needs of victims with children or who are pregnant, the level of support these victims receive becomes a “postcode lottery”.

The report says “The failure to recognise victims who are parents or pregnant and their children as particularly vulnerable denies them access to rights and leaves them at risk of further exploitation, destitution or deprivation.”

There is no official data on the number of victims or are pregnant or who have children ‒one of the first things that the report recommends needs to change‒ but around 25-50% of the victims assisted by the ATMG charities each year fall into this group, so the numbers are not insignificant.

As well as recommending better data collection the report calls on the Government to recognise and address the special needs of this group of victims in policy, guidance and training for all public sector staff. The report also urges the Government to provide specific support for parents, such as free child care, more appropriate accommodation for victims and their accompanying children, and better coordination between organisations providing support to adult victims and children’s services.

CARE welcomes this new report and urges the Government to pay more attention not only to the immediate needs of victims but also to ensuring they have access to support and assistance to promote their long term recovery and rehabilitation.