Sex slave survivor talks to the UN
A CAPE Town survivor of human trafficking is taking her message to the world, starting with an address to the UN to speak on her experience.
Grizelda Grootboom, who was sold into the sex trade at the age of 18, will speak for seven minutes at a high-level meeting of the General Assembly on the appraisal of the UN’s Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in People.
The two-day meeting will sit from September 27 to 28 to assess the achievements, gaps and challenges and the implementation of legal instruments.
Grootboom’s tell-all book, released two years ago, has given the 36-year-old a national platform to raise awareness around the plight of girls who are trafficked.
In the book she details her early life living with relatives in Woodstock before her family was moved out and she eventually ended up living on and off in shelters and on the streets.
She described how her first sexual encounter was at age nine when she was gang-raped while visiting her mother, who had another family, in Site C, Khayelitsha.
Many other sexual assaults followed while she was living in Cape Town and during her early years as a prostitute working the streets of Johannesburg.
Speaking to the Weekend Argus, Grootboom said she was excited about the opportunity to speak to world leaders about the experiences of many children and women in Africa.
“It is overwhelming but a great opportunity to represent the country and survivors of the slave trade,” she said.
“I hope to make an impact with my speech, not just on human trafficking but to highlight the struggles that women not only in South Africa but in Africa as a whole go through.
“I won’t just talk about the challenges of the girl child, but of black children. Women in Africa as a whole still live in slavery to the sex trade, and nobody is listening to them.
“My visit goes beyond speaking just speaking before the General Assembly, and I will spend the next few days engaged in meetings to discuss plans and legislation around trafficking,” she said.