Abstract
Human trafficking remains a seemingly unsolvable problem despite over a decade of concerted international, regional and, increasingly, domestic attention. Little inroads have been made, especially in attempting to address its most prominent manifestation – human trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation. Most government resources, in states from which victims are trafficked and in those in which they are received, have focused upon attempting to end this form of human trafficking. This has been done in two ways: either through draconian measures that focus on the security of the state (and curbing migration), or by attempting to eradicate the sex industry through criminalisation of consumers, and the continued criminalisation of sex workers. Such strategies have had little measurable effect on the supply or demand of those trafficked, which suggests that such counter-trafficking measures remain largely ineffective. Moreover, this preoccupation with the dark, exploitative side of the sex industry has been at the expense of a focus upon what is thought to be a far more pervasive form of human trafficking (which also intersects with sexual exploitation), that is labour trafficking. (Labour trafficking is an umbrella term used to denote trafficking for forced and bonded labour (in an array of industries), which also includes domestic servitude and forced marriage, forced begging, and the exploitation in warfare.) Hence, only the ways in human trafficking is manifested is addressed, and not the root causes of the phenomenon.
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Notes
- 1.
The law will come into operation once all government departments have finalised guidelines, instructions and directives that are needed for the various departments to fulfil their roles and obligations as defined by the Prevention and Combating of Trafficking in Persons Act, No. 7 of 2013. At the time of writing, these were not finalised.
- 2.
This is based on three policy dimensions introduced by the Trafficking Protocol, and used as benchmarks by the TIP Report to measure and evaluate compliance, pertaining to: (1) prosecution (and the criminalisation, investigation and punishment of traffickers), (2) protection (and assistance of victims), and (3) prevention.
- 3.
In the form of amendments to the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act 32 of 2007 and the Children’s Act 38 of 2005.
- 4.
The action plan is based on the three pillars of prevention, victim support and response. A strategic framework based on six pillars was formulated by the Programme Coordinating Unit to ensure this through: (1) information (research and education), (2) capacity building and development, (3) victim support and integration, (4) legislation and policy development, (5) monitoring and evaluation, and (6) liaison and consultation. See du Plessis and Collin (2010) for a critical assessment of the Tsireledzani programme.
- 5.
The KwaZulu-Natal human trafficking task team formulated its own provincial action plan (which is assessed on an annual basis), as a cohesive and implementable national action plan is yet to be released (and appears to be tied to the finalisation of a national policy framework). See Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (2012).
- 6.
Rehabilitation and reintegration programmes for victims of trafficking, particularly those who have been trafficked for sexual exploitation, are short-term and generic. They do not equip those completing the programme with sufficient life skills or viable alternatives to the sex trade in terms of employment (i.e. job skills/training) and sustainable living. As a result, many women return to sex work and/or their traffickers within 3 months of exiting such a programme.
- 7.
Collusion refers to the ways in which a person may be direct or indirectly complicit in trafficking activities. Direct collusion refers to alerting traffickers to impending raids, facilitating entry into the country, recapturing escaped or assisted victims, or being part of a trafficking operation. Indirect collusion refers to the use of a victim’s services or refusing to investigate or prosecute suspected cases of trafficking.
- 8.
Human trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation dominates counter-trafficking operations, victim identification and assistance, and limits attempts to address trafficking from a human rights perspective (Emser 2013).
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Emser, M., Francis, S. (2014). Human Trafficking in South Africa: Political Conundrums and Consequences. In: Asuelime, L., Francis, S. (eds) Selected Themes in African Political Studies. Advances in African Economic, Social and Political Development. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-06001-9_5
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