HUMAN TRAFFICKING: GLOBAL CRISIS & CHALLENGES SA IS FACING
1. INTRODUCTION
Globalization, poverty, violence, and greed facilitate the growth of HT, not only in the Third World, but in
the most developed countries as well
Behind the façade in any major town/ city in the world today, one is likely to find a thriving commerce in
human beings
HT reported in many countries including Germany, Italy, Americas, Turkey, South Africa
Trafficking in persons takes place within, outside/through various regions & often involves organised
crime syndicates, and exploits victims‟ basic human rights
Commerce in human beings today rivals drug trafficking and the illegal arms trade for top criminal
activity on the planet
The increasingly severe & widespread poverty & social inequality ensures a growing pool of recruits
Parents in desperate straits may sell their children or at least be susceptible to scams that will allow the
slave trader to take control over the lives of their sons and daughters
It is important question if the amount of female breadwinners today challenges or poses a threat to the
century old patriarchal system of society
The rising amount of female breadwinners can be argued to be a sign that society is dissolving around
us, showing something is going terribly wrong in the Western society
Statistics SA estimated that there are 41.3% female-headed households in SA (2011)
Of these, almost 36% have no income & around 55% earns up to R19k annually
Women experience immense strain to provide for their families, which in turn can influence choices
they make to care for themselves and/or their children
2. NATURE AND EXTENT OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING
2.1) EXTENT OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING
27 million slaves exist in world today – more than at any time in human history
Argued 800k – 1.2 million people & 1 million+ children trafficked annually (UNICEF)
HT generates an annual US$32 Billion profit in the USA, out of which US$27 billion dollars grossed from
sexual exploitation (EUROPOL)
POLARIS estimates HT generates US$150 billion globally
SA: estimated more than 44 545 people are enslaved and approximately 28k children are trafficked to
SA cities for purpose of sexual exploitation every year
Real magnitude & extent of women/children that are trafficked to, from/within SA, remains unknown
May be attributed to hidden nature of the crime: victims are hidden from public view & traffickers use
subtle means to traffic & exploit victims
Reliability of statistics is questionable – there is no definite data for estimated victims
2.2) THE NATURE OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING
There are 4 main claims frequently made that influences the assumed magnitude of HT
Stated that it is a huge worldwide problem, however this claim is unsubstantiated as there‟s disparity
between number if alleged & confirmed victims (if there are so many victims, where are they?)
Argued that the number of victims is steadily increasing in magnitude, however global trends cannot
be estimated as HT is clandestine in nature (making it difficult to obtain data), there‟s a lack of a solid
standard to measure changes over time & possible market saturation that suggests that demand is
expanding as the existing supply is insufficient
Also stated to be a leading criminal enterprise raked as 3rd criminal enterprise in world yielding high
profits, however there is no data to substantiate this
, The last myth states sex trafficking exceeds all other types of HT, however once again there‟s no
data. It is plausible that all forms of cheap labour exceeds the commercial sex sector
Major forms of human trafficking include: forced labour, sex trafficking, bondage labour, debt bondage
among migrant labourers, involuntary domestic servitude, forced child labour, child soldiers & child sex
trafficking
Forced labour/ involuntary servitude can result when immoral employers exploit workers, who are made
more vulnerable by high rates of unemployment, poverty, crime, discrimination, corruption, political
conflict/cultural acceptance of the practice
Immigrants are especially vulnerable, but victims can also be forced into labour in home countries
Female victims of forced/bonded labour, particularly domestic servitude, are often sexually exploited
Domestic servitude in SA is mainly voluntary, and has helped to raise poverty levels – if domestic
servitude should become illegal in the country, countless families would not be able to put food on the
table everyday
Sex trafficking is when an adult is coerced, forced,/deceived into prostitution/maintained in prostitution
through coercion
Persons involved in recruiting, transporting, harbouring, receiving/obtaining person for exploitation
purposes have committed a trafficking crime
Sex trafficking is often used as a form of “payment” that the victim owes the trafficker by means of
“debt bondage”
Traffickers use debt bondage where victim must pay off a „debt‟ before they can be “free”
A person‟s initial consent to participate in prostitution is not legally determinative: if they are thereafter
held in service through psychological manipulation/physical force, they are trafficking
Sometimes victims become recruiters due to the consequential psychological damage
Trafficker might „ loan‟ the victim money to purchase their travel documents & tickets, on the condition
that they will pay this debt back, when they find work in their destination country (sometimes not
noted that they need to pay money back)
Trafficker uses this debt to force victims to work or participate in whatever they have planned for them
in the destination country
The specifics of contractual agreement, the working conditions & consequences of non-repayment is
used to determine if a debt is truly coercive
2 types of debt bondage, namely
Financial debt bondage where the victim has to pay back money a trafficker „loaned‟ them, usually
in period of 6 months (however, exploitation continues after the money has been „paid back‟
Labour debt bondage where a person has to pay back the money their ancestors owe someone in
the form of severe labour
There are different types of child trafficking identified
Forced child labour: some organizations/ national laws recognize children may legally engage in
certain forms of work, however, that the worst forms of child labour, including bonded & forced labour
of children, should be eradicated
Child can be a victim of human trafficking regardless of location of non-consensual exploitation
Child soldiers: the unlawful recruitment/use of children, through force, fraud/coercion, as combatants,
for labour/sexual exploitation by armed forces
Can be forcibly abducted, others are unlawfully made to work as porters, cooks, guards, servants,
messengers, or spies
Females can be forced to marry/have sex with combatants (high risk of contracting sexually
transmitted diseases)
Child sex trafficking: UNICEF states as any as 2million children are subject to prostitution in the
global commercial sex trade
