Amira's story
Claire Walford
'Amira' was trafficked to the UK when she was a child. She is passionate about helping people understand the sort of challenges faced by child survivors of modern slavery and human trafficking.
'Amira' tells her story
'Amira’ is a member of ECPAT UK’s lived-experience Youth Advisory Group. She was trafficked to the UK when she was a child and, from the age of 17, received huge support from ECPAT UK as she rebuilt her life. We asked Amira some questions about her story.
- What was difficult about navigating the systems once you were rescued from exploitation?
“You find yourself in a country you didn’t choose to come to. Everything is different and as a young person, you have no understanding of the legal systems and a lack of trust, particularly of adults because the people who trafficked you were adults and made lots of promises but ended up mistreating you.
“You’ve managed to run away from your exploiters, but you find yourself with other adults, like social workers and solicitors, who are making promises. These adults are saying, “we are here to support you… we are here to help you” but the young person doesn’t know what to believe. They’ve learned to fight for themselves either by running away, keeping quiet, or being angry. You are frightened, you can’t speak the language and you don’t know who to trust.
“Sometimes you’re facing homelessness but the people who trafficked you are still reaching out to you and they’re threatening your family members. They might claim that the police in UK won’t look after you and so many young people end up running back to their original traffickers and are mistreated once again.”
“You feel sick but you don't understand you can go to a GP. You are being housed in hotels, living as an adult or trying to, and you don’t have the opportunity to be a young person. You have to grow up quickly and find ways to help yourself. You might be in accommodation in London, and you start making friends and going to school and then all of a sudden, you are moved to outside London where you don't know the community.”
- What was it like telling your story to different professionals and organisations?
“People tell you they don’t believe your age, or they don’t believe your story or that you’ve been trafficked. You have to keep going over your story and some people are not trauma informed or don’t have a good understanding about child trafficking. They might believe the young person has consented to the situation or not understand why they didn’t leave if they had opportunity.
“They might be interviewing a young person and asking questions that are triggering the trauma without realizing it. Some young people might end up having three different social workers over a couple of years and each time the new person comes, they keep asking questions and it feels like nothing is happening. Nothing is escalating. You just keep on explaining yourself but nothing changes.
- What do you wish the general public understood about child exploitation?
"I wish the general public would understand the different types of exploitation. For example, domestic servitude, sexual exploitation and criminal exploitation. I also wish the general public knew how to look out for different warning signs – how to recognise them and how to escalate their concerns if they come across a young person who is being exploited."
- What sort of warning signs of child exploitation could people look out for?
“You might see a child that isn’t registered at a school or a GP or seems neglected in the way they dress. Or perhaps they are very shy around people or very angry towards adults or not settling well at school.
“Alternatively, you might come across young people with inappropriate sexual behaviour, for example, using words that you wouldn’t expect, being dressed in a provocative way or acting around other people in a more grownup manner than usual. You might notice a young person with an adult who is not allowed to speak and the adult does all the talking. The young person might keep looking at the adult when you ask them a question and you feel that, in their eyes, they are screaming out for help and support.”
- What role do you think faith communities can play in identifying or supporting victims of human trafficking and modern slavery?
“I would like to tell people in churches and mosques to look out for these signs because you can save someone’s life. Do not ignore what you see - do something. Provide regular training about trafficking to your church or mosque members because it could make a big impact to a young person’s life and also to the community life. Speak about it often so that people can learn to recognise the signs and know what to do. Most of all, be friendly and welcoming when young people come into your group and make sure you have good safeguarding policies in place.”
ECPAT UK’s Youth Advisory Group was set up in recognition that young people affected by trafficking are the experts in their own lives. The group is made up of former members of ECPAT UK’s Youth Programme and longer-term members who are in a position to get involved with steering its organisational campaigns and strategy. The Youth Advisory Group meets monthly, and members take part in awareness-raising activities, public campaigning and training for frontline professionals.
We are very grateful to Amira for sharing her story in Children in the Shadows Revisited.
