Annette Brooke MP backs the campaign Three Small Steps to Protect Child Victims of Trafficking

12.00.00am GMT Thu 28th Feb 2008

Annette Brooke MP for Mid Dorset and North Poole gave her support to the campaign Three Small Steps to Protect Child Victims of Trafficking in the House of Commons on Wednesday 27th February.

The campaign, led by the children's rights charity ECPAT UK is calling on the Government to withdraw the general reservation on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child on immigration and nationality, to ratify the Council of Europe's Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings and to appoint an independent Child Trafficking Watchdog (Rapporteur).

Darren Bennett, past winner of the highly successful BBC One show 'Strictly Come Dancing' and supporter of children's rights demonstrated to MPs how to take "Three Small Steps" with a difference by doing a short Salsa routine. He also gave pedometers to all attending MPs to help them measure their 'Three Small Steps'.

Annette Brooke MP, Liberal Democrat spokesperson on Children, Schools and Families said, "The campaign calls are really just three small steps in the context of how much needs to be done to better protect child victims of trafficking, but their achievement will speed up progress in many other areas of their care and protection"

Some progress has already been made on two of the campaign calls - on 14 January the Government announced that it will review the UK reservation on immigration and nationality on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and that it will ratify the Council of Europe's Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings by the end of 2008.

Christine Beddoe, Director of ECPAT UK, said, "We welcome the Government's decision to review the UK reservation on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child on immigration and nationality, but the review must be carried out with transparency and the views of all those consulted must be given equal weight."