Human Trafficking
Recently I was contacted by a long lost
friend and she had come back to the land of the living with a shocking story.
She is a victim of human trafficking. She has however managed to break away
recently. I will be featuring her story in this blog but I thought I should
share with you the fact on human trafficking. It is not only an African issue
but affects all of us. Whoever you are please say no to this evil
practice. Sometimes people are recruited without knowing to smuggle victims in
and out of other countries.
What is Human Trafficking?
Human Trafficking is a crime against humanity. It
involves an act of recruiting, transporting, transferring, harbouring or
receiving a person through a use of force, coercion or other means, for the
purpose of exploiting them. Every year, thousands of men, women and children
fall into the hands of traffickers, in their own countries and abroad.
Elements of human trafficking
The Act (What is done)
Recruitment,
transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons
The Means (How it is done)
Threat or use of
force, coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power or vulnerability,
or giving payments or benefits to a person in control of the victim
The Purpose (Why it is done)
For
the purpose of exploitation, which includes exploiting the prostitution of
others, sexual exploitation, forced labour, slavery or similar practices and
the removal of organs.
To ascertain whether a particular circumstance
constitutes trafficking in persons, consider the definition of trafficking in
the Trafficking in Persons Protocol and the constituent elements of the
offense, as defined by relevant domestic legislation.
Human trafficking in Africa
is a serious problem and warrants intervention on all fronts. Many African
States still do not have legislation on human trafficking, or only have laws
that criminalize some aspects of human trafficking (such as child trafficking).
Nearly
130,000 people in sub-Saharan Africa and 230,000 in the Middle East and North Africa have been recruited into forced labour,
including sexual exploitation, as a result of human trafficking. These
estimates by the International Labour Organization paint a grim picture of
human trafficking in Africa . Although a large
number of victims of human trafficking of African origin are found within the
continent, many are also transported to Western Europe
and other parts of the world, according to a recent UNODC report on trafficking
in persons world wide
The report, Tsireledzani: Understanding the dimensions of human
trafficking in southern Africa, says victims are mostly
women, girls and boys trafficked for variety of purposes, including
prostitution, pornography, domestic servitude, forced labour, begging, criminal
activity (including drug trafficking), and trafficking for the removal of body
parts (or muti).
Young boys
are trafficked to smuggle drugs and for other criminal activities.
Research shows on the following:
Intercontinental trafficking (to South Africa from outside of Africa ).
Trafficking to South Africa South Africa ,
mostly from Mozambique and Zimbabwe and to a lesser extent Malawi , Swaziland
and Lesotho Angola ,
Rwanda , Kenya , Cameroon ,
Nigeria and Somalia
Domestic trafficking. The largest
movement of trafficked people is from rural areas to cities. Women, girls and
boys -and to a lesser extent, men - are the targets of traffickers for
prostitution for the same purposes listed. The albino community was identified
as vulnerable to human traffickers for the harvesting of body parts, due the
belief of a ‘white' skin having potent powers.
Research shows trafficking in Southern Africa as
rampant and destination countries include Ireland ,
Zimbabwe , Israel , Switzerland ,
the Netherlands and Macau . In all cases, the victims were women trafficked
for either sexual exploitation, labour exploitation or forced marriage.
The study confirmed that, as elsewhere, women
constitute the largest group of victims in human trafficking in Southern Africa , with the main purpose of sexual
exploitation. Young girls are also trafficked for sexual exploitation because
they are perceived to present less of a risk in terms of HIV and AIDS and
because of the ‘sexual desirability of youth'.
Some of the findings include:
Perpetrators
Human trafficking is driven by networks situated in
source countries with links to South
Africa
Relationship of human trafficking to other forms of
crime
There is a distinct trafficking-narcotics nexus, as
criminal syndicates are usually involved in several areas of illegal activities
- including smuggling, weapons and narcotics trafficking. Trafficked women may
also be involved in the ancillary line of selling drugs to their clients. In
many cases of trafficking for sexual exploitation, victims are made dependent
on narcotics to reduce their capacity to leave. Young boys are also trafficked
to sell drugs.
Collusion of officials as facilitating factor
The collusion of border and other immigration
officials is a key factor facilitating trafficking. Human trafficking
syndicates target border posts where lax border controls and vulnerability to
bribery enable the illegal transportation of a variety of goods. The Lebombo
border was identified as one of the land ports of entry where these problems
operate on a large scale. The same problems were cited regarding OR Tambo
Airport.
Aggravating factors
Factors that facilitate and aggravate human
trafficking in Southern Africa include poverty and inequality; the lack of
educational and employment opportunities in surrounding countries and within
the country; lax security at ports of entry; collusion of government officials;
the lack of trained personnel to identify and handle trafficking cases; and
societal beliefs that tolerate violence against women and children.
How to Help
Be aware that this is a crime that can be prevented
and for those looking for greener pastures elsewhere be aware you can be duped
into modern slavery. Virtually
every country in the world is affected by these crimes. The challenge for all
countries, rich and poor, is to target the criminals who exploit desperate
people and to protect and assist victims of trafficking and smuggled migrants,
many of whom endure unimaginable hardships in their bid for a better life.
No comments:
Post a Comment