In south africa, an estimated 30,000 children are trafficked each year. Human trafficking, especially for labour, is rife in sa the. The nature and future of human trafficking in south africa compiled by. In the past few years, this problem has been increasing. Trafficking of children is a dynamic phenomenon, which takes 1 trafficking in human beings, especially women and children in africa. Introduction human trafficking has become a 1global concern.
As part of their applied project, second year students from the department of strategic communication had to collect quantitative data on the levels of awareness of trafficking in persons in south africa. South africa at the crossroads of human trafficking. A critical analysis of human trafficking in south africa. Although this is acknowledged in the literature and amongst antitrafficking practitioners and policymakers, the existence of a dominant discourse at both the international and domestic level focuses on human trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation and prostitution to the detriment of other forms of. The methodologies used to arrive at estimates about its nature and extent. Usually, legislations are mere stopgap as opposed to the veracity of the realities in the contemporary crime theatre. Global report on trafficking in persons about 12 shelters in 2006 were managed by iom in a cooperative agreement with the southern african counter trafficking assistance programme sactap. Initiatives on combating trafficking in persons have been undertaken on a. South africas approach to the global human trafficking. Here in west africa, millions of youth are affected by this brutal, entrenched trade. Taken during an investigation into child trafficking and ukuthwala in the eastern cape. Pdf on dec 25, 2017, chris mensahankrah and others published the modern trend of human trafficking in af rica and the role of the african union find, read and cite all the research you need. Worldwide, almost 20% of all trafficking victims are children.
Human trafficking, sexual exploitation, a girl and child trafficking are defined. Human trafficking in eastern africa research assessment and baseline information in tanzania, kenya, uganda, and burundi cent of survey respondents agreed that people in their area know what human traffickingis. Human trafficking was no longer words on a page but a reality. Pdf human trafficking is defined as the recruitment, transportation, transfer. Trafficking is a complex phenomenon that is often driven or influenced by social, economic, cultural and other factors. Policymakers in africa recognize the harsh reality that funds gained from human trafficking still cross our borders through shell companies, badly governed banking systems and lax antimoney laundering laws. United nations, 2000 human trafficking is defined as. Antitrafficking campaigners say 30 000 children are trafficked into south africa annually as part of the sex trade, but the situation may be far more chronic and severe than we know. In this section a distinction is made between involuntary and voluntary prostitution. Instead, victims of human trafficking are often punished because they are viewed as illegal immigrants. However in some parts of africa, children are the majority up to 100% in parts of west africa. Jun 07, 2017 until 20, south africa did not have specific laws that could be used to prosecute human trafficking.
First, the purpose of writing this article is stated. Sunrise over the amatola hills, eastern cape, south africa. South africa must develop and implement a national plan of action to combat human trafficking that sets a standardised procedure for trafficking cases also focusing on domesticinternal trafficking, especially to improve victim identification. Historic slave trade and present day human trafficking in africa. Human trafficking has been on the rise globally, and africa has been an integral part of the worldwide market in human beings.
For decades, countries in africa have been marked with the issue of child trafficking. The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of. Human trafficking and the exploitation of women and children in a southern and south african context dn swart department of criminology, university of south africa email. Generally, south african girls are trafficked for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and domestic servitude, while boys are used for street vending, food service. Oct 24, 2017 trafficking in persons as defined by the united nations denotes the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons by means of threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, abduction, fraud, deception and the abuse of power, or of a position of vulnerability or giving or receiving payment or benefits. Trafficking in human beings, especially women and children, in africa v contents foreword vii 1 introduction 1 1. Human trafficking in africa is thriving with help from a large network of traffickers, pimps, moneylaunderers, document forgers, and others who are willing to take part in the sale of human beings.
Jul 26, 2015 human trafficking is a global crime affecting countless victims around the world. South africa is a destination country for longdistance flows for people mainly women trafficked from places like philippines, india, russia, and china. In nigeria prone conflict zone, boko haram trafficked children and use them as soldiers and militias. Africa and south asia especially the mekong area are among the worst. In many countries people who fall prey to trafficking ordinary women, men and girls living normal lives in their houses, street children and sex workers. Pdf the modern trend of human trafficking in africa and. Kreston professor and research fellow, department of criminal and medical law, university of the free state. It is intended to ser ve as a tool for advocacy and awar enessraising to. This paper examines the role of the african union, au in combatting human trafficking. The root causes of trafficking are various and often differ from one country to another. South africa, for example, is largely considered as a human trafficking destination, while mozambique is mainly regarded as a source country us department of states, 20. Human trafficking is a worldwide problem where humans are trapped in coercion and exploitation. Human trafficking is an umbrella term used to denote a continuum of exploitative experiences. In africa, countries like kenya and lesotho, women and children are the main victims of human trafficking.
Hence, some of the causes of human trafficking are structural in character and. South africa has in place institutions and programs whose functions include providing training to government officials that deal with human trafficking issues. Trafficking in persons tip otherwise known as human trafficking, is a. How africa can lead the fight against human trafficking. Until 20, south africa did not have specific laws that could be used to prosecute human trafficking. Human trafficking in eastern cape province, south africa by. Current patterns of child trafficking in west and central africa although, child trafficking is a global problem, the practice is particularly widespread in some regions. In 2015, the prevention and combating of trafficking in persons act was implemented. Now south africa has one of the highest amounts of human trafficking in the world. Pdf root causes and solutions to human trafficking in ethiopia. Human trafficking is an international human rights crisis 3rd largest criminal industry in the world, outranked only by arms and drug dealing. Human trafficking of young women and girls for sexual. A tale of human traffickers and libyan slave markets the. Human security will seek to understand the causes of internal and external.
Conflict is a push factor for trafficking, migration and poverty. Human trafficking awareness survey results about the study the study was conducted in the second quarter of 2014. Unicef innocenti insight 2 the degradation of work, trafficking in persons from a labor perpective. Trafficking in human beings, especially women and children, in africa could not have. Trafficking in persons as defined by the united nations denotes the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons by means of threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, abduction, fraud, deception and the abuse of power, or of a position of vulnerability or giving or receiving payment or benefits. Nov 29, 2017 hundreds of african refugees are being bought and sold in slave markets across libya every week, a human trafficker has told al jazeera, with many of them held for ransom or forced into. An estimated 21 million humans are victims to this crime, and even though there is a general agreement of its undesirability, research of its driving forces is scarce. Human trafficking is a complex phenomenon which obviates simple solutions. While south africa has put in place legislative measures to prevent human trafficking, the country is still a source, transit point, and destination country for men and women subjected to trafficking for forced labour and sexual exploitation. Hundreds of african refugees are being bought and sold in slave markets across libya every week, a human trafficker has told al jazeera, with many of them held for ransom or forced into. Human trafficking is the fastest growing means by which people are enslaves, the fastest growing international crime, and one of the largest sources of income for organised crime. In addition to that, many stakeholders have problem in distinguishing between human trafficking and human smuggling, therefore at least some victims of 2 internationally by protocol to prevent, suppress and punish trafficking in persons, especially women and. Human trafficking in the middle east and north africa region.
It was the first time i had had such a close encounter with this type of human trafficking where people are. It is arguably the lowest risk activity for criminal groups due to widespread corruption, lack of legislation and low rates of prosecution. The shocking causes of human trafficking in africa the. Zzz vrdv df xn kxpdq uljkwv odz the centre for human rights law, soas, university of london, provides a forum for scholarship and collaborative approaches on human rights law in practice. Introduction in the west african subregion the phenomenon of trafficking in persons is widespread. One of the causes of human trafficking in africa can be linked to law enforcement that lacks the training to cooperate with neighboring countries in order to prevent and interrupt this crime. Human trafficking is a global crime affecting countless victims around the world. Trafficking is one of the largest profit makers for organized crime in africa. Most forms of trafficking are to be found in africa. Human trafficking in south africa occurs as a practice of forced labour and commercial sexual exploitation among imported and exported trafficked men, women, and children. Despite various criminal legislations in the various spectrums of human life, crime generally including human trafficking continues unabated.
Human traffickers often seek the most vulnerable populations. The modern trend of human trafficking in africa and the role of the. Forms of human trafficking in the middle east include domestic servitude and forced labor, child trafficking for camel jockeys, and sex trafficking. Human trafficking and the exploitation of women and children. Global report on trafficking in persons about 12 shelters in 2006 were managed by iom in a cooperative agreement with the southern african countertrafficking assistance programme sactap. Human trafficking has been reported to be on the increase in the eastern cape province of south africa with girls as young as ten years old being trafficked from and within the province for sexual and labour purposes, and marriage. Pdf over the past few years, there has been an increase in the smuggling of. The reality of human trafficking in south africa the. In tanzania this fell to 56 per cent, in uganda to 34 per cent, and in burundi to 12 per cent.
The worldwide epidemic of trafficking in persons continues to be a global problem each year, 1. It has hosted a number of events, made submissions and provided expert testimony on human. In 2003, south africa established the human trafficking desk within the organized crime unit ocu of the south african police service saps. These shelters did not exclusively house victims of trafficking but also cared for victims of domestic violence and destitute women and children. Human trafficking is considered a contemporary form of slavery. Review of research and data on human trafficking in subsaharan africa in data and research on human trafficking. Although the figures are subject to some dispute, the us department of state estimates that between 800 000 and 900 000 people become victims of. Furthermore, in countries like kenya, zimbabwe and ghana, girls as young as eight years old are sold as brides. The forms of human trafficking found in south africa include sex trafficking, child labour, domestic servitude, organ smuggling, childbrides ukuthwala, illegal child adoptions, debtbondage, forced surrogacy, and the use of body parts for muti. The nature and future of human trafficking in south africa. South africa currently has no legislation enacted that comprehensively and substantially criminalises the trafficking of persons.
1194 440 1325 1237 1048 919 309 643 526 681 1146 1015 1677 1020 1592 1420 1030 1557 861 373 1077 768 878 696 1343 393 1038 32 1080 1105 1128 1032 632 479 815 147 1165