UK Parliament / Open data

Modern Slavery Bill

Proceeding contribution from Lisa Nandy (Labour) in the House of Commons on Tuesday, 8 July 2014. It occurred during Debate on bills on Modern Slavery Bill.

The Home Secretary will be aware that successful prosecutions of cases involving children are very low. One of the reasons for that is encapsulated in a problem with the Bill, which is the omission of a specific definition of child trafficking. As she will know, children cannot consent to their own exploitation. I draw her attention to clause 39, which states:

“A person is not guilty of an offence if…the person is compelled to do that act.”

Children cannot consent to their own exploitation, and therefore that defence is no use to children. That is why I hope she will join me and many other Members on both sides of the House in supporting the inclusion of a specific definition of children trafficking in the Bill.

Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
584 c172 
Session
2014-15
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
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