Report: 5,000 child slaves in U.K.

LONDON, Feb. 25 (UPI) -- More than 5,000 children are working in England as sex slaves, the Independent on Sunday reported.

The newspaper said a report to be released this week on global slavery describes Britain as a major transit point for child slaves.

The report, commissioned by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said children as young as 5 are being exploited as slaves, either in the sex trade or as domestic workers, newspaper said.

The Rowntree foundation -- a non-profit social policy research and development organization -- is lobbying British lawmakers to treat such people as victims of slavery, not as illegal immigrants, who are often deported and then victimized again in their home countries.