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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. [1] 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, and agriculture. [2] Anecdotal evidence suggests that South African children can also be forced to provide unpaid labor for landowners in return for land occupancy, living accommodation, or for maintaining labor tenancy rights. [3] In any case, this form of unpaid labor has caused human trafficking to be described as a modern form of slavery. [4] Human trafficking is the result of a combination of several factors, including gender inequality, economic instability, and political conflict. Since Africa experiences all of these, it is an active hub for human trafficking. [5] Many[ who? ] urge for the need of a cultural shift to reduce instances of human trafficking by lessening the demand for sex and unpaid labor. [6]
Human trafficking refers to the use of force, fraud, or coercion to obtain labor or commercial sexual act, according to the Department of Homeland Security. [7] The definition of human trafficking does not require that victims be transported. They can remain stationary and still be classified as victims of human trafficking if they are being sexually exploited or serving as indentured laborers. [8]
A sex exploiter is any person who expresses desire or engages in sex with at least one victim of human trafficking. [9]
Debt bondage refers to a form of indentured servitude where payment is given to a person's legal guardian/family member(s) in exchange for said person. They must work to pay off this debt for release. [9]
Kidnapping is the taking of a person to another place against their will, or the restraint of a person's freedom by force, as defined the Wex Legal Dictionary. [10]
Abduction is the taking of a child from their legal guardian with the specific intention of defiling or prostituting the child, according to the Wex Legal Dictionary. [11]
An origin country is one where traffickers recruit victims for exploitation. [12]
A transit country is an intermediary country where a victim is moved to after recruitment. These countries often have ineffective border control and corrupt government officials. [12]
A destination country is one that receives victims. Its economy is generally prosperous enough to support sex trafficking. [12]
An internal/domestic country is one whose victims are both recruited and trafficked within the same country. [12]
It is estimated that there are millions of victims; though only about 50–100,000 cases are found each year. [13] The University of Johannesburg reports that trafficking occurs at a slightly higher rate for girls than boys, with 55.5% of all trafficked people in South Africa being female, and 44.5% being male. It is estimated that more than three-quarters of all victims are between the ages of 12–25. [14] Though many victims are recruited through deceit on behalf of the trafficker, sometimes victims of human trafficking enter on their own accord, as they are faced with economic hardships that leave them desperate for a better life. [13] This can occur as agentic victims are coerced by employers or pimps to become a trafficked person for a number of false benefits such as better pay, for example. [13] The uneven distribution of wealth in South Africa leaves victims vulnerable to promises of wealth. [8]
There are first wave victims, classified as people recruited for trafficking, and second wave victims, such as women who were trafficked and now serve as recruiters. [15] Traffickers have learned to find victims in places where there is little to no protection for exploitation, weak government, poverty, corrupt law enforcement, temporary working positions, and places where diaspora is common. [13] [16] Many traffickers convince their victims to fear the police, as they are not to be trusted, which helps to keep victims trapped in the cycle of trafficking. [13]
Traffickers can range from people who engage in activity occasionally to those who are a part of organized crime networks, according to the International Organization for Migration. [17] It is often easier for traffickers to work in the latter situation because it facilitates the movement and organization of victims. [17]
Following the apartheid of South Africa during the 20th century, inequality increased as the higher classes held most of the state's income. [18] This exacerbated the tendency for women in Africa to not be in positions of power, as it is difficult for many to obtain education and skills training. This makes women easy targets for traffickers. Many agree to go abroad with prospects of a better life. [16] Traffickers also seek children from Africa due to a lack of a birth registration system. This leaves children vulnerable to trafficking because they are unidentified and difficult to trace back to their country or origin. [16] These victims are then transported to South Africa. Ukuthwala (child marriage) is a tradition common in some South African provinces wherein young girls are married to older men, which may also account for some trafficking victims. [19]
One hospital in Durban, South Africa pleaded guilty to 109 counts of illegal organ transplants, wherein Brazilian and Romanian victims were compensated as little as $6,000 for organs worth anywhere from $100,000–120,000. [20] This is a violation of the South African Human Tissue Act of 1983 that protects minors from being used for organ transplant and the sale of organs for profit. [18] South Africa is a prominent place for organ harvesting because the exchange rate between South African currency and United States dollars allows recipients a maximum payout. Additionally, South Africa has only 2% of the population on the organ transplant registry, [21] and many qualified doctors willing to perform the transplant. [22]
Trafficking rings choose transit locations where government officials and police are corrupt, leaving traffickers with little risk of being caught and victims with little hope of being helped. [23]
Child sex tourism is prevalent in and between a number of South African cities, notably the cities of Johannesburg and Cape Town. [24] Women and girls from other African countries are often imported to South Africa for commercial sexual exploitation, domestic servitude, and other jobs in the service sector. Occasionally, these women are taken as far as Europe for sexual exploitation. Many Thai, Chinese, and European women are often trafficked to and sexually exploited in South Africa for debt bondage. Young men and boys from Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Malawi are notably trafficked to South Africa for farm work, extending for months without pay before "employers" have them arrested and deported as illegal immigrants. Organized criminal groups—including Nigerian, Chinese, and Eastern European syndicates, local gangs and individual policemen facilitate trafficking into and within South Africa, particularly for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation. [25]
South African victims are usually taken to Ireland, the United States, and the Middle East as domestic servants. [26] Victims from several different countries such as Thailand, the Philippines, China, and Russia are trafficked into South Africa. [26] Because of this, South Africa is considered an origin, transit, destination, and internal/domestic country in terms of child trafficking. [26]
There is an absence of reliable statistics about human trafficking, masking the truth about human trafficking in South Africa. Since such little is known, it is difficult to assess and combat the situation. [23] The United States passed the Prevention and Combatting of Trafficking in Persons Act in 2013, which the former president of South Africa Jacob Zuma signed. [27] However, little change was affected and only 3 traffickers were convicted, and 12 suspects were prosecuted that same year. [28]
In 2008, South Africa was placed on the US Department of State's Tier 2 list, which designates it as a country whose government does not currently comply with TVPA's minimum standards against human trafficking, but is making efforts toward compliance. [29] The government provided inadequate data on investigations or prosecutions of trafficking crimes or on resulting convictions or sentences. In addition, it did not provide information on its efforts to protect victims of trafficking and continued to deport and prosecute suspected foreign victims without providing appropriate protective services. [25] The U.S. State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons placed the country in "Tier 2" once again in 2017.
Failure to address trafficking is perhaps due to poor screening procedures and identification measures. [30] Many traffickers evade persecution because there is no law that criminalizes human trafficking. [26] The South African Penal Code lacks criminal codes that specifically outline human trafficking, instead grouping incidents into crimes like rape, sexual assault, and abduction. [6] [23] This lack of systematic data collection makes it difficult to record incidents of human trafficking and take measures against it. [31]
To help reduce instances of human trafficking, the South African Department of Home Affairs began requiring an Unabridged Birth Certificate in 2015 for minors travelling in and out of South Africa. [32] An Unabridged Birth Certificate contains information about the child's legal guardians, if a child entering/exiting South Africa does not have a UBC, they are denied passage. [32] The implementation of this policy, however, may not reduce trafficking, as traffickers tend to use illegitimate ways of crossing the border or victims may be trafficked within borders. [33]
South Africa also partnered with the Global Action against Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants in 2016. South Africa was one of 13 countries asked to join this effort due to the prevalence of human trafficking. [31] [34] A Trafficking in Persons Task Team was established in 2012 by the National Prosecuting Authority's Sexual Offenses and Community Affairs Unit (SOCA). This task team works toward collecting data on trafficking in South Africa and taking measures to reducing incidences. [31] The Child Protection Directorate helps survivors of trafficking return safely to their parents or guardians. [35]
Trafficking of children is a form of human trafficking and is defined by the United Nations as the "recruitment, transportation, harboring, and/or receipt" kidnapping of a child for the purpose of slavery, forced labour, and exploitation. This definition is substantially wider than the same document's definition of "trafficking in persons". Children may also be trafficked for adoption.
Sex trafficking is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation. It has been called a form of modern slavery because of the way victims are forced into sexual acts non-consensually, in a form of sexual slavery. Perpetrators of the crime are called sex traffickers or pimps—people who manipulate victims to engage in various forms of commercial sex with paying customers. Sex traffickers use force, fraud, and coercion as they recruit, transport, and provide their victims as prostitutes. Sometimes victims are brought into a situation of dependency on their trafficker(s), financially or emotionally. Every aspect of sex trafficking is considered a crime, from acquisition to transportation and exploitation of victims. This includes any sexual exploitation of adults or minors, including child sex tourism (CST) and domestic minor sex trafficking (DMST).
Chilean law does specifically prohibit trafficking in persons, and there were isolated reports that persons were trafficked to, from, and within the country for the purposes of sexual exploitation and involuntary domestic servitude. U.S. State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons placed the country in "Tier 1" in 2017. The law criminalizes promoting the entry into or exit from the country of persons for the purpose of facilitating prostitution, with penalties of up to three years in prison and a fine of $827. Sanctions are increased in a number of circumstances, including cases in which the victim is a minor, violence or intimidation is used, deception or abuse of authority is involved, the victim is related or under the tutelage of the perpetrator, or advantage is taken of a victim's circumstances or handicap. The law criminalizes the prostitution of children and corruption of minors, and the age of consent for sexual relations is 14. The law criminalizes obtaining sexual services from a minor in exchange for money or other considerations.
The United Kingdom (UK) is a destination country for men, women, and children primarily from Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe who are subjected to human trafficking for the purposes of sexual slavery and forced labour, including domestic servitude. It is ranked as a "Tier 1" country by the US Department of State, which issues an annual report on human trafficking. "Tier 1" countries are those whose governments fully comply with The Trafficking Victims Protection Act's minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. The TVPA is a federal statute of the United States. It is believed that some victims, including minors from the UK, are also trafficked within the country. It is also believed that migrant workers are trafficked to the UK for forced labour in agriculture, construction, food processing, domestic servitude, and food service. Source countries for trafficking victims in the UK include the United Arab Emirates, Lithuania, Russia, Albania, Ukraine, Malaysia, Thailand, the People's Republic of China (P.R.C.), Nigeria, and Ghana. Precise details about the extent of human trafficking within the UK are not available, and many have questioned the validity of some of the more widely quoted figures. In 2020, the US State Department estimated that there were 13,000 trafficking victims in the UK.
Vietnam is primarily a source country for women and children trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor. Women and children are trafficked to the People’s Republic of China (P.R.C), Cambodia, Thailand, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Macau for sexual exploitation. Vietnamese women are trafficked to the P.R.C., Taiwan, and the Republic of Korea via fraudulent or misrepresented marriages for commercial exploitation or forced labor. Vietnam is also a source country for men and women who migrate willingly and legally for work in the construction, fishing, or manufacturing sectors in Malaysia, Taiwan, P.R.C., Thailand, and the Middle East but subsequently face conditions of forced labor or debt bondage. Vietnam is a destination country for Cambodian children trafficked to urban centers for forced labor or commercial sexual exploitation. Vietnam has an internal trafficking problem with women and children from rural areas trafficked to urban centers for commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor. Vietnam is increasingly a destination for child sex tourism, with perpetrators from Japan, the Republic of Korea, the P.R.C., Taiwan, the UK, Australia, Europe, and the U.S. In 2007, an Australian non-governmental organization (NGO) uncovered 80 cases of commercial sexual exploitation of children by foreign tourists in the Sa Pa tourist area of Vietnam alone.
Zimbabwe is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation. Large scale migration of Zimbabweans to surrounding countries—as they flee a progressively more desperate situation at home—has increased, and NGOs, international organizations, and governments in neighboring countries are reporting an upsurge in these Zimbabweans facing conditions of exploitation, including human trafficking. Rural Zimbabwean men, women, and children are trafficked internally to farms for agricultural labor and domestic servitude and to cities for domestic labor and commercial sexual exploitation. Women and children are trafficked for domestic labor and sexual exploitation, including in brothels, along both sides of the borders with Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa, and Zambia. Young men and boys are trafficked to South Africa for farm work, often laboring for months in South Africa without pay before "employers" have them arrested and deported as illegal immigrants. Young women and girls are lured to South Africa, the People's Republic of China, Egypt, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada with false employment offers that result in involuntary domestic servitude or commercial sexual exploitation. Men, women, and children from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia are trafficked through Zimbabwe en route to South Africa. Small numbers of South African girls are trafficked to Zimbabwe for domestic servitude. The government’s efforts to address trafficking at home have increased with the introduction of the National Action Plan (NAP) as well as the 2014 Trafficking in Persons Act. In addition, the trafficking situation in the country is worsening as more of the population is made vulnerable by declining socio-economic conditions.
Human trafficking is the trade of humans for the purpose of forced labour, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation.
Human trafficking in India, although illegal under Indian law, remains a significant problem. People are frequently illegally trafficked through India for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and forced/bonded labour. Although no reliable study of forced and bonded labour has been completed, NGOs estimate this problem affects 20 to 65 million Indians. Men, women and children are trafficked in India for diverse reasons. Women and girls are trafficked within the country for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and forced marriage, especially in those areas where the sex ratio is highly skewed in favour of men. Men and boys are trafficked for the purposes of labour, and may be sexually exploited by traffickers to serve as gigolos, massage experts, escorts, etc. A significant portion of children are subjected to forced labour as factory workers, domestic servants, beggars, and agriculture workers, and have been used as armed combatants by some terrorist and insurgent groups.
Indonesia is a source, transit, and destination country for women, children, and men trafficked for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor. The greatest threat of trafficking facing Indonesian men and women is that posed by conditions of forced labor and debt bondage in more developed Asian countries and the Middle East.
Jamaica is a source, transit, and destination country for adults and children trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labor.
Human trafficking in Canada is prohibited by law, and is considered a criminal offence whether it occurs entirely within Canada or involves the "transporting of persons across Canadian borders. Public Safety Canada (PSC) defines human trafficking as "the recruitment, transportation, harbouring and/or exercising control, direction or influence over the movements of a person in order to exploit that person, typically through sexual exploitation or forced labour. It is often described as a modern form of slavery."
Nigeria is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children subjected to trafficking in persons including forced labour and forced prostitution. The U.S. State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons placed the country in "Tier 2 Watchlist" in 2017. Trafficked people, particularly women and children, are recruited from within and outside the country's borders – for involuntary domestic servitude, sexual exploitation, street hawking, domestic servitude, mining, begging etc. Some are taken from Nigeria to other West and Central African countries, primarily Gabon, Cameroon, Ghana, Chad, Benin, Togo, Niger, Burkina Faso, and the Gambia, for the same purposes. Children from other West African states like Benin, Togo, and Ghana – where Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) rules allow for easy entry – are also forced to work in Nigeria, and some are subjected to hazardous jobs in Nigeria's granite mines. Europe, especially Italy and Russia, the Middle East and North Africa, are prime destinations for forced prostitution.Nigerians accounted for 21% of the 181,000 migrants that arrived in Italy through the Mediterranean in 2016 and about 21,000 Nigerian women and girls have been trafficked to Italy since 2015.
Mozambique is a source and, to a much lesser extent, a destination country for men, women, and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced labor and forced prostitution. The use of forced and bonded child laborers is common in rural areas of the country, often with the complicity of family members. Women and girls from these rural areas are also lured to cities with promises of employment or education, as well as to South Africa for involuntary domestic servitude and forced prostitution. NGO's report that Mozambican victims of sex traffickers were taken by traffickers to "training centers" in Eswatini and South Africa in preparation for an expected increase in demand for prostitution during the 2010 World Cup. Young Mozambican men and boys are subjected to conditions of forced labor in South African farms and mines; they often labor for months in South Africa without pay and under coercive conditions before being turned over to police for deportation as illegal migrants. Mozambican adults are subjected to forced labor and forced prostitution in Portugal. Women and girls from Rhodesia and Malawi who voluntarily migrate to Mozambique continue to be manipulated by traffickers into forced prostitution and domestic servitude subsequent to their arrival. There are an estimated 145,600 people living in slavery in Mozambique and countless more being taken unwillingly into South Africa.
China is a main source and also a significant transit and destination country for men, women, and children who are subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced labour and forced prostitution. Women and children from China are trafficked to Africa, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and North America, predominantly Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia, and Japan for commercial sexual exploitation and forced labour. Women and children from Myanmar, Vietnam, Mongolia, former USSR, North Korea, Romania, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, and Ghana are trafficked to China for commercial sexual exploitation and forced labour.
Sex trafficking is defined as the transportation of persons by means of coercion, deception and/or forced into exploitative and slavery-like conditions and is commonly associated with organized crime.
Human trafficking in Southeast Asia has long been a problem for the area and is still prevalent today. It has been observed that as economies continue to grow, the demand for labor is at an all-time high in the industrial sector and the sex tourism sector. A mix of impoverished individuals and the desire for more wealth creates an environment for human traffickers to benefit in the Southeast Asia region. Many nations within the region have taken preventive measures to end human trafficking within their borders and punish traffickers operating there.
Sex trafficking in China is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation and slavery that occurs in the People's Republic of China. It is a country of origin, destination, and transit for sexually trafficked persons.
Sex trafficking in the Philippines is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation and slavery that occurs in the Republic of the Philippines. The Philippines is a country of origin and, to a lesser extent, a destination and transit for sexually trafficked persons.
Sex trafficking in Japan is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation and slavery that occurs in the country. Japan is a country of origin, destination, and transit for sexually trafficked persons.
Sex trafficking in El Salvador is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation and slavery that occurs in the Republic of El Salvador. It is a country of origin, transit, and destination for sexually trafficked persons.