Trafficking a lucrative industry
HUMAN trafficking has become the second most profitable crime commodity globally.
Crime investigation experts say in most cases poverty is the reason for child and labour exportation; parents often sell their children for as little as R50 a month to sustain the high cost of living.
Speaking at this year’s ACT Africa International Men’s GBVF Conference was Colonel Paramanand Jagwa, national co-ordinator for the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, who said it was time for law enforcement, civil society and the public to join hands to fight human trafficking.
Recent statistics show that in 2018 human trafficking generated $150 billion (about R2.2 trillion) globally, outnumbering narcotics and firearms.
“The increase in human trafficking is also due to the poor conviction rate globally. Court cases take too long, and victims are often intimidated by the perpetrators. The justice system needs to come into play to decrease the growing human trafficking rate.
“With the assistance of anti-GBVF (gender-based violence and femicide) and human trafficking organisations as well as community members, the pressure on law enforcement and investigating units will lessen,” said Jagwa.
Gauteng Social Development MEC Morakane Mosupyoe was also one of the speakers. She said lockdown has restricted GBVF services resulting in the launch of the GBV call centre which recorded 120 000 calls nationally in the first week of lockdown.
“Just weeks later in Pretoria, a single call centre was receiving 1 000 calls in a day from women and children confined to abusive homes and seeking urgent help. Prior to the pandemic, femicide in South Africa was already five times higher than the global average, and the female interpersonal violence death rate was the fourth highest of 183 countries listed by the World Health Organization in 2016. Evidence has now emerged that suggest cases of violence against women are increasing,” said Mosupyoe.
Reports of GBV are often dismissed by the police, Mosupyoe said, adding that sometimes this is because the police believe cases of GBV are a “family matter” and can be solved.
“The most important thing we need to do is to remove the victim from that space where he/she is being abused. Patriarchy plays a negative role in our community. If you deny a person justice, we as social development are prepared to give social help to victims,” she said.
The Maslow Hotel, which hosted the conference, is among the first hotels to partner with ACT (Awareness of Child Trafficking) Africa to take a stand against human trafficking and GBVF.
Hilary Leong, co-founder and chairperson of ACT Africa, said human trafficking has become a trade business for money. In most cases, well-known hotels are the location from where traffickers trade, “therefore it is important for hotels to on-board the fight against human trafficking and GBVF”.