0:00:08 > 0:00:11I'm always appalled when I hear about people trafficking.
0:00:11 > 0:00:14It may shock you to learn that it's happening right here in the UK,
0:00:14 > 0:00:17and a huge number of these people are children,
0:00:17 > 0:00:21brought here from other countries and forced to work illegally
0:00:21 > 0:00:23and kept both hidden and silenced.
0:00:23 > 0:00:27These are boys and girls that desperately need our help.
0:00:28 > 0:00:33Lisa is 23. She had such tough childhood experiences
0:00:33 > 0:00:35we need to protect her identity.
0:00:35 > 0:00:39We're not using her real name, and her words are voiced by an actor.
0:00:40 > 0:00:43Now she's a young mum who loves to cook for her children.
0:00:44 > 0:00:48Lisa was born in West Africa and was brought up by her parents
0:00:48 > 0:00:53until she was 13, when they left her to live with another family.
0:00:53 > 0:00:56Soon, one of them offered to send Lisa to London to work for
0:00:56 > 0:01:01her daughter and get an education. It sounded like a good opportunity.
0:01:01 > 0:01:06Her mother said I was coming here to look after her two children.
0:01:06 > 0:01:10When the children are in school, I will have the opportunity to
0:01:10 > 0:01:14go to school myself, because I didn't know how to read or write.
0:01:14 > 0:01:16I was so excited.
0:01:17 > 0:01:20But from the moment she arrived,
0:01:20 > 0:01:23Lisa realised she'd been badly misled.
0:01:23 > 0:01:25She spent all her waking hours cleaning
0:01:25 > 0:01:30and serving the woman's family. There was no chance to go to school.
0:01:30 > 0:01:34And aged 13, completely alone in this country,
0:01:34 > 0:01:36she was effectively a slave.
0:01:37 > 0:01:42I had to wake up at five o'clock and start cleaning the house.
0:01:42 > 0:01:46She said that she spent a lot of money to get me over here, that
0:01:46 > 0:01:51if I'm not doing my job properly, she will do anything to hurt me.
0:01:51 > 0:01:54She beat me. She pulled my hair.
0:01:54 > 0:01:58She kicked me. She made me sleep in the cold.
0:01:58 > 0:02:00She said, "Your parents are not here.
0:02:00 > 0:02:04"Who is going to come to look for you? Nobody."
0:02:06 > 0:02:10Now, the traffickers make a huge amount of money, but because
0:02:10 > 0:02:14it's such a hidden problem, the exact figures are hard to come by.
0:02:14 > 0:02:16It's thought that hundreds of children are brought here
0:02:16 > 0:02:20every year and forced into domestic slavery and criminal activity,
0:02:20 > 0:02:23like drug cultivation and sexual exploitation.
0:02:25 > 0:02:29One day, a row in the house Lisa lived in escalated into more
0:02:29 > 0:02:32extreme violence than ever before.
0:02:32 > 0:02:35She pulled a knife on me, and I was like,
0:02:35 > 0:02:39"I'm not going to survive this time, so I have to escape from her."
0:02:40 > 0:02:44Lisa fled, empty-handed, into the unknown.
0:02:44 > 0:02:50I was just walking down the street, and I was not wearing any shoes.
0:02:50 > 0:02:53I was crying. I was like, "I'm nobody."
0:02:54 > 0:02:59Within a few hours, a passer-by had taken her to the social services,
0:02:59 > 0:03:02but it took time to persuade them that she was a child.
0:03:02 > 0:03:04Her traffickers had given her
0:03:04 > 0:03:07a fake passport that said she was in her twenties.
0:03:07 > 0:03:11She lived in a hostel for adults and was preyed upon
0:03:11 > 0:03:15by the male residents before she was finally given a foster home.
0:03:19 > 0:03:22It's hard to imagine just how lonely and damaging those
0:03:22 > 0:03:26experiences must have been for Lisa or to think about the children
0:03:26 > 0:03:29going through similar things right now, here in this country.
0:03:29 > 0:03:31But there is something you can do to help.
0:03:31 > 0:03:35There's an incredible charity called ECPAT UK who are doing really
0:03:35 > 0:03:39important work in helping to piece those broken lives back together.
0:03:41 > 0:03:45ECPAT UK campaigns on behalf of child victims of trafficking
0:03:45 > 0:03:47and exploitation.
0:03:47 > 0:03:50Their goal is to eradicate trafficking
0:03:50 > 0:03:52and stop the exploitation of children
0:03:52 > 0:03:55by British citizens elsewhere in the world.
0:03:56 > 0:04:01Debbie works closely with young people who have been trafficked.
0:04:01 > 0:04:05She runs ECPAT UK's weekly groups for young men and women, offering
0:04:05 > 0:04:10projects to help survivors move on and deal with their experiences.
0:04:10 > 0:04:11Lisa is a regular, after being put
0:04:11 > 0:04:14in touch with the charity by her lawyer.
0:04:14 > 0:04:18Every Friday I'm thinking, "I can't wait to go to the group."
0:04:18 > 0:04:22When I come here, I'm so happy.
0:04:22 > 0:04:23It's a safe place for young people
0:04:23 > 0:04:27to come and feel secure and gain those life skills they need,
0:04:27 > 0:04:29and to understand what safe relationships are.
0:04:29 > 0:04:32We've done a drama project and a film project. At the moment,
0:04:32 > 0:04:36we're doing an art project to be creative and be with each other,
0:04:36 > 0:04:39because of course, a lot of time, they've missed their childhood.
0:04:41 > 0:04:45Thankfully, ECPAT UK can provide a safe haven for children who
0:04:45 > 0:04:46have escaped this kind of abuse,
0:04:46 > 0:04:50but they're also working towards stopping this exploitation
0:04:50 > 0:04:54from taking place behind closed doors all across Britain.
0:04:54 > 0:04:57The charity runs training for border staff,
0:04:57 > 0:04:59social workers and the police,
0:04:59 > 0:05:03people most likely to come into contact with trafficked children,
0:05:03 > 0:05:05so they can give them the proper care.
0:05:05 > 0:05:08But identifying these vulnerable children is hard.
0:05:08 > 0:05:11They're told what to say by their traffickers.
0:05:11 > 0:05:12Everyone will be like,
0:05:12 > 0:05:15"Well, I hear the same story," and they're not being believed,
0:05:15 > 0:05:18but actually, that in itself is an indicator of trafficking.
0:05:18 > 0:05:21So it's really challenging.
0:05:21 > 0:05:24Debbie often brings along members of the young women's group to
0:05:24 > 0:05:26help with training,
0:05:26 > 0:05:30like this 24-year-old. We'll call her Sophie.
0:05:30 > 0:05:32You may find her story upsetting.
0:05:32 > 0:05:36She was brought to London when she was only 12 by a family friend
0:05:36 > 0:05:40and immediately given domestic tasks in a stranger's home.
0:05:40 > 0:05:43When my mum's friend went back to Nigeria,
0:05:43 > 0:05:47then things became worse, me doing more,
0:05:47 > 0:05:49like literally tidying up the whole house.
0:05:49 > 0:05:54If I made the bed nice and tidy, she'll give me a slap and say,
0:05:54 > 0:05:56"You need to smarten up the bed."
0:05:58 > 0:06:01The part I hate to talk about the most is being introduced to
0:06:01 > 0:06:07different men coming to the house. That's the scary bit about it.
0:06:07 > 0:06:09I ended up being made to sleep with these men.
0:06:11 > 0:06:14Finally, Sophie could take no more of the abuse,
0:06:14 > 0:06:17and this enraged her captor.
0:06:17 > 0:06:20She started fighting with me, telling me,
0:06:20 > 0:06:24"If you don't do this, then you will need to get out of my house."
0:06:24 > 0:06:28She then pushed me out of the house, chucked my things out.
0:06:28 > 0:06:32I ended up walking away from the house, and I kind of got lost.
0:06:33 > 0:06:36Suddenly, only 12 years old,
0:06:36 > 0:06:41Sophie was homeless and penniless in a country she didn't know.
0:06:41 > 0:06:45And from there, I was roaming about.
0:06:45 > 0:06:48I was sleeping on the streets for eight to nine months,
0:06:48 > 0:06:51jumping on buses just to keep warm.
0:06:51 > 0:06:55I had nowhere to go. I was literally depressed.
0:06:58 > 0:07:02Finally, Sophie was taken in by a fellow Nigerian, and then it was
0:07:02 > 0:07:07thanks to ECPAT UK that she managed to make plans for her future
0:07:07 > 0:07:09and start at college.
0:07:13 > 0:07:17So, I'm here to meet some of the young people who have been helped
0:07:17 > 0:07:21by ECPAT UK to cope with their incredibly traumatic experiences.
0:07:21 > 0:07:24There's Sophie and Lisa from West Africa
0:07:24 > 0:07:27but others from Vietnam and Bangladesh.
0:07:27 > 0:07:30I want to know what ECPAT UK means for them.
0:07:30 > 0:07:34Basically, because we've all been through the same situation.
0:07:34 > 0:07:37It gives us that little bit of relief to say, "OK,
0:07:37 > 0:07:42"you're not alone, and you didn't go through all that by yourself."
0:07:42 > 0:07:47We only want to feel safe and to feel we have care from each other.
0:07:47 > 0:07:51And just being with other people who have been through your experience.
0:07:51 > 0:07:53We're like a family.
0:07:53 > 0:07:56Without their support, I wouldn't be where I am today.
0:07:56 > 0:08:01I have my two children. I go to college. I'm working as a carer.
0:08:01 > 0:08:03So I'm so happy now.
0:08:03 > 0:08:07It's remarkable to think that these young people I've just spoken
0:08:07 > 0:08:09to have got such a positive outlook on life,
0:08:09 > 0:08:10considering what they've been through.
0:08:10 > 0:08:13You could hear their stories, but I could see it in their eyes,
0:08:13 > 0:08:15and that's thanks to ECPAT.
0:08:15 > 0:08:16And with your support,
0:08:16 > 0:08:19the charity can continue doing its great work in helping
0:08:19 > 0:08:23children get over the trauma of being trafficked and basically
0:08:23 > 0:08:27make their lives worth living again. So please give generously.
0:08:29 > 0:08:30To give by phone, call:
0:08:33 > 0:08:36Calls are free from mobiles and landlines.
0:08:36 > 0:08:38You can also donate £10 by texting:
0:08:40 > 0:08:44Texts cost £10 plus your standard network message charge,
0:08:44 > 0:08:47and the whole £10 goes to ECPAT UK.
0:08:47 > 0:08:50For full terms and conditions or to make a donation online,
0:08:50 > 0:08:52visit the Lifeline website:
0:08:54 > 0:08:57Or, if you'd like to post a donation,
0:08:57 > 0:09:00please make your cheque payable to ECPAT UK and send it to:
0:09:03 > 0:09:06..writing ECPAT UK on the back of the envelope.
0:09:06 > 0:09:08Thank you.