Report: Boys Don’t Cry
Boys Don’t Cry: Improving identification and disclosure of sexual exploitation among boys and young men trafficked to the UK
This report by The Children’s Society, published in March 2016, focuses on the issue of boys and young men who have been trafficked into the UK and who experience sexual exploitation. It looks at the scale of exploitation and the barriers to it being identified for this particularly vulnerable group. Read the full report at www.childrenssociety.org.uk
Key findings
The scale of sexual exploitation of trafficked boys and young men
Available figures on child trafficking are likely to be an underestimate
Boys/ young men are reticent to disclose experiences of sexual exploitation
Some professionals interviewed as part of the research noted the importance of considering young people who self-identify as transgender (male to female) in work around sexual exploitation of trafficked young men.
Barriers to disclosure of sexual exploitation
Norms and cultural values
- Sense of shame / religious backgrounds
- Not wanting to appear as victims
- Sexual abuse may have become normalised as part of their journey towards a better life.
- Taboos around sex and homosexuality
Systemic issues
- Lack of awareness among professionals about trafficking and sexual exploitation
- Gendered expectations about sexual exploitation
- Short timescales for some intervention work with young people inhibits disclosure
- Legal process for applying for asylum can offer little support for disclosure
- Pervasiveness of negative attitudes towards young people who may have been trafficked
Features of the sexual exploitation of trafficked boys and young men
- Boys seen by traffickers as being more versatile than girls, able to be exploited in a variety of ways (forced labour, forced criminality or domestic servitude, and sometimes these things in combination).
- In case studies for the research boys and young men initially presented as having experienced labour exploitation or forced criminality and it was not until months later, once they had established a trusting relationship with a worker, that they disclosed the sexual exploitation element.
- In some cases the boys concerned had been subject to sexual exploitation during their journey to the UK, as well as after arrival.
- Sexual abuse had been used as a form of ongoing repression and control employed by traffickers to prevent escape or detection.
- The criminalisation of boys and young men – for activities they had been forced into as part of their exploitation – had sometimes shifted the focus of interventions away from inquiry into potential trafficking or sexual exploitation, towards a criminal justice response.
Key Recommendations
These relate specifically to what needs to change to facilitate the identification of sexual exploitation of boys and young men who have been trafficked, or to increase the chances of victims making disclosures to professionals in the field.
- Local authorities, the police, the Home Office, health workers and schools need to invest in training for frontline staff and managers to improve their understanding of the situations faced by trafficked boys and young men, including the likelihood of sexual exploitation.
- Practitioners supporting young people who have been trafficked – as well as other young refugees and migrants – should ensure they are trained in recognising the indicators of sexual exploitation, and that they are aware that boys as well as girls may have experienced this form of exploitation, and that they may have experienced sexual exploitation amongst other forms of exploitation.
- Access to specialist mental health provision for children who have experienced trauma should be guaranteed. This may be particularly important in helping boys and young men to overcome feelings of shame associated with their exploitation.
- Local authorities, the police and the Home Office need to ensure that relevant staff are trained in using a trauma informed approach to ensure that interviews with vulnerable young people are conducted in an appropriately sensitive manner.
- Local Authorities should prioritise the inclusion of representatives with expertise around trafficking (eg from voluntary sector projects) in their multi-agency sexual exploitation panels.
- Local Safeguarding Children Boards should have a trafficking sub-group which takes responsibility for mapping trafficking in an area and overseeing services (including for boys and young men).
![Boy phase 2](http://brightonandhovelscb.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/Boy-phase-2.jpg)