This submission is a joint response from Black Box Research and Consultancy (‘Black Box’), the Children and Young People’s Centre for Justice (‘CYCJ’) at the University of Strathclyde, and Adam Elliott, a survivor and lived experience advocate of modern slavery.
The rights of children and young people to protection from exploitation, trafficking and modern slavery are being undermined. Current definitions perpetuate barriers to identifying and responding to victims across systems, procedures and practice, resulting in criminalisation, (re)traumatisation and the denial of safeguarding and support. Reframing definitions through a child rights and trauma informed lens is essential. This submission draws on hundreds of such cases, alongside research, training and lived experience, to highlight systemic failings in victim identification and support. We argue for clearer statutory definitions, trauma-responsive practice and a rights-based approach that recognises criminal exploitation as child abuse. Without these reforms, many victims will remain invisible to the very systems designed to protect them.