Rise in number of children trafficked into Scotland

SHE came to the attention of the Scottish Refugee Council (SRC) in February when she was found waiting outside the charity's office in Glasgow one morning. Adewaye, not her real name, was found by staff in a state of shock and "clearly in pain".

• Trauma: Adewaye's experience of slavery is not unique in Scotland

Taken to the new arrivals room by a case worker, she explained that she had arrived in the UK in July last year and been held against her will and repeatedly raped.

It was the first inkling that a new development in the international sex trade had arrived in Scotland. Adewaye, then 17, had been smuggled into the country from West Africa and threatened that if she escaped and co-operated with the authorities her family would be harmed. Charities working with West African girls say that up two cases a month are now emerging in the UK.

The teenager explained that she had been befriended by a woman in Nigeria whom she'd met whilst buying food in a local market. Adewaye said that the woman was well dressed and talked of travel and how she helped young people to achieve better lives, more money and opportunities.

The woman began talking to Adewaye about travelling to the UK to work. It was suggested that her employment could be varied, that she may be caring for children by day while performing hotel work during the evenings.

At the time Adewaye had been living with extended family in Nigeria, but was unhappy as she was treated as a servant. She said the woman's offer seemed genuine, so she agreed to the move.

When she arrived in a country said to be the UK, she was introduced to a man described as her "employer". The teenager handed her passport over to him and has not seen it since.

The man took her to a flat where she was kept in a room, given food and clothes, but shortly afterwards men began arriving in the flat and Adewaye was forced to have sex with them. SRC said some of her descriptions of the acts she was forced to perform are too extreme to print. Adewaye said she was often forced to have sex with several men at once.

The girl was kept alone and moved to different flats at night and had no idea where she was. She was eventually moved to a city she now knows is Glasgow, where she was held against her will in a flat again and forced to have sex with men. She said drinks given to her were spiked. She only managed to escape when a "punter" who used her regularly for sex took pity on her. The man helped Adewaye to escape but left her highly distressed in a Glasgow street in the rain before passers-by whom she'd asked for help directed her to the offices of the SRC.

Staff there advised Glasgow City Council's social work department and Strathclyde Police. Such was Adewaye's distress that she collapsed and ended up in hospital for three days and she has since been having panic attacks.

The girl has had medical tests for sexually transmitted diseases and is awaiting results, which, SRC say, is terrifying for her as she has become aware of the numerous diseases that she was exposed to. Adewaye, now aged 18, has entered the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) which was brought in by the government to support trafficking victims, but has attracted criticism for the way it operates. She continues to be supported by specialist services.

The charity said she is very wary of men. She is also terrified of being kept in a closed space and is frightened of being left alone in her flat. Clare Tudor, SRC's policy officer, said that some of the trafficking cases the charity has come across recently have been horrendous, with children having endured "unprintable experiences".

She said: "As Adewaye is now aged over 18, she is being supported by specialist services set up to help adults who have been trafficked. Part of this process means hers, and cases like hers, will automatically be raised with the police. But the SRC is seeing more cases like these emerging among children for whom there is no dedicated trafficking support."

Scotland On Sunday was given details of two other suspected trafficking cases. The first involves a Chinese girl called "Ning" who came to the attention of SRC in May 2010. She claimed to be 17 but appears younger. Ning is five months pregnant, but has so far refused to talk about her experiences.

The other case involves a 16-year-old Sudanese boy called Ali. He has also declined to talk in detail about his recent life and SRC said he is very distressed. Ali stated that he stayed in a house in the UK and had been working.

Tudor said: "This is happening behind closed doors in Scotland and some of the children we have come across have been exploited in different ways so we are learning on a case by case basis."

The Nigerian link to people trafficking to Britain is of increasing concern and a charity called Afruca (Africans Unite Against Child Abuse (UK)) said it was dealing with around two new trafficking cases a month in the UK.

Founder Debbie Ariyon said many of the girls were being brought from the Edo region of Nigeria where witchcraft is widely practised.

She said: "Italy used to be the main destination, but now the traffickers are targeting the UK. Witchcraft is part of the culture in Edo and many of the girls are made to swear Ju Ju oaths and take part in gruesome rituals. The girls believe terrible things will happen to either themselves or their families if the co-operate with the police, if found. It makes the practice for the traffickers almost risk-free."

Ariyon expressed fears that government cuts would adversely impact the fight against trafficking. "The Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre is to be pared down and the coalition government has refused to sign up to the EU directive on human trafficking," she said.

Last month, Scotland's top law officer was forced to defend attempts to tackle human trafficking after criticism that no-one in Scotland had been convicted for the crime. Lord Advocate Elish Angiolini said the criticism was "not well made" and told MSPs investigating the issue that the authorities disrupt trafficking in a variety of ways, including the targeting of brothels.

Currently, there are three major inquiries in Scotland trying to establish the extent of human trafficking. One is being led by Baroness Helena Kennedy, focussing on human rights, and the second is examining migration into Scotland for the Scottish Parliament. The third is headed by Tam Baillie, the children's commissioner. His report is due out early next year.