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Sex work versus human trafficking

Prostitution may be seen on a spectrum with human trafficking. The relationship is complicated: but no matter the situation, a women’s body is exploited for the sake of money and usually in desperate circumstances. In South Africa with limited quality of education and few job opportunities, women view sex work as an avenue they can choose, often sending the small amount she receives to her children. Selecting prostitution for income creation often is done with reluctance since no other work opportunity is available. In desperate circumstances, prostitution is a quick way to make money with no training, job interview, CV or education required. A woman may often perceive prostitution as ‘the only way’ to get money they and their families need to live. In cases where women are promised certain jobs, but find themselves in a situation where they are sold for sex against their will, unable to leave or visit family, in debt bondage or with their ID documents confiscated, these are human trafficking cases. Force, fraud, deception or coercion is involved when a sex worker is trafficked. Willing, consenting participants in the sex industry may be involved in the same work as human trafficking victims however their situations are very different. Often times both women will want a different life and a way out of prostitution. Sex work is hardly glamourous: one study of prostituted women in nine countries found that 70-95 percent of the women were physically assaulted and 60-75 percent were raped with 89 percent of the women telling researchers that they urgently wanted to escape prostitution[6]. In one study in Johannesburg, of 764 sex workers tested for HIV, 71.8% were tested as HIV positive.  [7]Prostitution is dangerous, socially demeaning and emotionally draining. Commercial sexual exploitation occurs in numerous different venues across many cultures. Due to the nature of soliciting buyers directly on the street and getting into their car to be taken to an unknown location, victims of street prostitution face unique dangers. In addition to the violence that men and women face at the hands of clients, an individual can incur a long lasting criminal record as they receive police citations for solicitation (or traffickers forcing them to hold guns, drugs or recruit others which can lead to co-conspirator charges), ultimately leading to jail time.

Not all cases are clear cut in differentiating between voluntary sex work and sex trafficking and women may be found in gray areas of the spectrum. For example, a woman who is ‘willingly’ a prostitute may be forced to sleep with more customers than she wants to for the sake of the brothel’s upkeep or because the pimp is controlling the flow of the customers.

Hope Risen’s Vision

Hope Risen’s overall mission is to make our city and our country a more beautiful, safe and hopeful place by ending human trafficking and exploitation one day at a time. This is achieved through helping empower dreams, visions and hope for each survivor’s future with a servant and loving heart.

We meet exploited individuals in the places of their greatest pain, shame and desperation. In that place, we have the opportunity to share with them glimpses of the true freedom that comes from living for a greater purpose. Our goal in all outreach is to see transformation but this must be a co-operative effort. Ultimately, that decision is theirs and theirs alone.

Sources:

[1] https://www.globalslaveryindex.org/2018/findings/executive-summary/

[2] https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/—ed_norm/—declaration/documents/publication/wcms_243391.pdf

[3] “Sexuality, Poverty and Law Programme”.http://spl.ids.ac.uk/sexworklaw/countries Institute of Development Studies. Retrieved 9 December 2017.

[4] “The Legal Status of Prostitution by Country”. Chats Bin. Retrieved 9 December 2017.

[5] “Executive Summary South Africa” (PDF). ECPAT. Retrieved 10 December 2017.

[6] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9698636 Prostitution, violence, and posttraumatic stress disorder. Farley.

[7] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/327075198_Estimating_the_Population_Size_of_Female_Sex_Workers_in_Three_South_African_Cities_Results_and_Recommendations_From_the_2013-2014_South_Africa_Health_Monitoring_Survey_and_Stakeholder_Consensus

Women and Children Abuse

Violence against women and children and can many forms, including physical violence, emotional violence and even the violence of poverty, starvation, humiliation and degradation: we know that poverty, inequality and unemployment are conditions under which violence thrives. Victims of human trafficking undergo substantial violations of their human rights and dignity and are subjected to forced sexual and physical violence on a daily basis. Not only does poverty and unemployment create environments for violence to thrive but people also become vulnerable to traffickers who lure in those who are desperate. Economic factors play a major role in experience of abuse[5]. The Stats SA report on Poverty Trends in South Africa reveals that the female headed households remain significantly poorer than male headed households. Statistics South Africa’s 2016 Demographic and Health Survey shows that on average one in five South African women older than 18 years has experienced physical violence.

The number of reported rapes rose 3.9% to 41 583 in the year 2019, the highest in four years. The police have logged 443 387 rapes over the past decade, yet the problem may be understated because such crimes frequently aren’t reported. Furthermore, sexual exploitation cases can often defined as rape and statistics surrounding sex trafficking have not been reported as included in these statistics.[6] Just one solution that government has listed participating in is prosecution under The Prevention and Combating of Trafficking in Persons Act (Act No 7 of 2013) which fights trafficking of all people including young girls and women. Prosecution under this act to obtain justice for victims is often difficult because court cases re-victimise and trigger trauma for victims of sexual exploitation and other human trafficking cases.

Solutions

“All South Africans should be active participants in the campaign. We have a collective responsibility in the fight to eradicate violence against women and children. We should emphasise the fact that the solution lies with all of us.”

At Hope Risen Foundation we encourage all of our readers, partners and supporters to continue the conversation about human trafficking, creating awareness around the fact that many South Africans and foreigners in South Africa are victims of human trafficking. Interventions from the criminal justice system alone are not enough to prevent the rising cases of gender-based violence and human trafficking. Everyone is society is responsible to protect possible victims, and by working together we can do more. By educating yourselves and others you can help to identify possible trafficking situations, sometimes before they even begin!

• Speak out against woman and child abuse
• Report child abuse to the police.
• Encourage children to report bully behaviour to school authorities.
• Spread the message on social media

We have found that following awareness workshops that we provide we receive more tip-offs of possible human trafficking situations and have been able to provide intervention and rescues simply due to the assistance of the public when they know what to look for.

Sources:

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/16_Days_of_Activism_against_Gender-based_Violence#cite_note-UN_Women-1

[2] https://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/what%20we%20do/evaw/16-days-2019-concept-note-en.pdf?la=en&vs=1538

[3] https://www.gov.za/16DaysofActivism2019

[4] https://www.gov.za/speeches/president-cyril-ramaphosa-officially-opens-16-days-activism-no-violence-against-women-and

[5] Statistics South Africa’s 2016 Demographic and Health Survey

[6] https://www.gov.za/speeches/minister-bheki-cele-release-201819-annual-crime-statistics-12-sep-2019-0000

In August a team of volunteers spent the month visiting the city, Johannesburg to speak to some of the prostitutes on the city streets. This is a weekly and monthly outreach that takes place in our city.

This is Fikile’s* story which we heard on one of our night time outreaches.

For blocks and blocks, every street has about five fires, surrounding which wait about three to five women and oftentimes a man who is managing or looking after them. These streets filled with fires stretch on as far as the eye can see: there are numerous women waiting for clients on a Saturday evening. Sometimes a woman will go home with as little as R60.00. Some women are open to conversation whilst others are not willing to talk, concerned about scaring off potential business.

On this particular evening, we met a woman with ragged scars along her forearms, reminders of her failed suicide attempt some years back that also left her with a disabled right hand. Fikile fought back tears of anger as she described to us an assault on her and another woman the night just prior, where men had held them down and raped them. Fikile said she was held in a chokehold and was left unconscious when the men ran away. Rape and assault cases like these are unlikely to be reported to the police due to the nature of prostitution. Her one-year-old daughter, whom she thought was safe at home, was raped on multiple occasions by a family member before she realised that the rapes were occurring. Many women like Fikile leave children at home in the evenings – sometimes they do not make enough money to go home again and need to wait on the dangerous city streets until the end of the following evening to go home to their children.

Fikile went on to describe her addiction to Nyaope that kept her looking for business although she did not want to work on the streets. She had tried twice to break her addiction but without success. Nyaope, or Whoonga, is a South African drug that is inhaled or injected and often consists of rat poison, sugar, baby powder, pool cleaner, bicarbonate of soda and washing powder. Many women on the streets of Hillbrow have one addiction or another. If they themselves are not alcoholics or addicted to substances such as Nyaope, sometimes their children are, and they steal whatever earnings are made by their mothers to feed their addiction. Women who are being sold for sex have explained that they use substances to numb the emotional pain of sleeping with multiple strangers in a night. Others who are trafficked are forced into addictions to keep them close to their handler and under his or her control.

Although it was a difficult evening, hearing painful stories like Fikile’s, the ladies seemed grateful to have open ears and open hearts with whom they could share their stories. Hope Risen will continue to fight against injustices against women and use volunteer-based visits like these to build relationships with women who need support, looking to find opportunities to help them create a new life for themselves.

*Not her real name

In South Africa this month we celebrate Youth Day on June 16^th. We take the time to soberly remember the Soweto Uprising of 1976, where some of our most vulnerable were killed and injured for standing up against injustices they faced. Meanwhile, in modern day South Africa, injustice continues to obstruct the rights and dignity of youth in the form of human trafficking. Although underage sex is illegal, pornography containing scenes of teenage sexual partners is consumed globally. This month Hope Risen will take a look at an alarming phenomenon: the worldwide popularity of teen-themed pornography.

“After an analysis of 400 million web searches from July 2009 to July 2010, neuroscientists concluded that the most popular category of sexual searches online—by a very wide margin—is “youth.” Teen porn has many subcategories including “barely legal,” “jailbait,” “sweeties,” and “lolitas” to name a few. This is a major trend in modern pornography and throughout media: youth, and even childlikeness, is accentuated as sexy”. “Teen” as a pornography category contains sexual scenes with teenagers, or “teenage-looking” actors/actresses. According to Pornhub’s statistics from the last six years, the ‘teen’ genre of pornography has remained one of the most popular searches, ranking consistently within the top ten searches made on Pornhub.

The sex trafficking industry is fuelled by demand. Thus as more teenage pornography is consumed, more is created. Porn consumers’ tastes in pornography are also shaped by what they watch, due to changes that take place in the brain. According to Fight the New Drug, in a survey of 1,500 young adult men, 56% said their tastes in porn had become “increasingly extreme or deviant.” Many porn consumers eventually find themselves getting aroused by things that used to disgust them or things that they might have previously considered to be inappropriate or unethical². Pornography not only shapes the consumer’s watching habits, but it also shapes and changes real life sexual preferences. Although underage sex is against social law and appropriateness, these porn consumers are training their brain to seek images of teens being used and sometimes abused. In fact, graphic banner adverts for sites like one called “18 and Abused” or “Teens Get Destroyed” often appear prominently on mainstream porn sites. A human mind that is consistently consuming pornography often will react positively to non-consensual sex and violence against women, becoming desensitised to violence. Regular pornography consumers also report significant decrease in the satisfaction of their relationships⁴. To learn more about the harmful effects of pornography, have a look at our article here. With more visits to porn sites than Amazon, Twitter and Netflix combined, the public consume pornography at such an insatiable rate that there is a constant flow of new videos to meet this demand[1].

This demand affects other types of sex trafficking consumption since most buyers who engage with prostitutes engage in pornography consumption.[2] Pornography creates a lure towards ‘sexual misconduct’ like paying for sexual encounters. Younger-looking women, teenagers and children are needed and recruited in the sex industry due to the demand. The common age of those entering the sex industry are between 14 and 16 years old.[3] In the porn industry the statistics are similar, with thousands between eighteen and twenty years of age entering the amateur porn industry from all over America⁵. There is a distorted representation portrayed of young women as pornstars or as prostitutes as “liking” and “enjoying” their work however this is far from the truth. Although, for the sake of the buyer, they may appear to “enjoy” their work, they are often coerced, trafficked and come from a background of abuse and neglect, and usually do not see any of the money that the videos generate³.

The increasing demand for pornography containing teenagers and even children leads to various forms of internet abuse. The Chinese video app “TikTok”, with 120 million active users, has recently been delisted on Google and Apple app stores in India in the wake of concerns surrounding pornography and child exploitation. The app has also been charged with the largest fine for a US case involving data privacy: $5.7million[4].

All of us have the responsibility to choose what content we want available on the internet, for ourselves and our future generations. As teenage and even child themed pornography is becoming increasingly popular, we need to say that we will not tolerate the making and circulating of such videos. Especially as science tells us that this is re-creating society’s ideas about sex. Such videos also promote ‘sex work’ to a younger and younger audience – a message that needs to be corrected by adults who know that this invitation is highly harmful. Such false promises that this work is glamorous or even a good way to get money, should not be allowed to be made to our youth. There are many who have overcome their addiction to pornography and found that their relationships and overall quality of life improved dramatically. There is still hope for the future of our youth – and our society, as long as we continue to take responsibility in standing up for justice. See our Fierce Hearts webpage for more details on what Hope Risen Foundation is doing to fight the harm of the pornography industry and how you can partner with us.

Sources:

[1] https://reviewonline.co.za/265450/the-history-of-the-well-known-youd-day-photo/

The history behind the iconic Youth Day photo, Retrieved: 14 May 2019.

[2] The Porn Circuit, http://www.covenanteyes.com/

[3] https://fightthenewdrug.org/this-years-most-popular-genre-of-porn-is-pretty-messed-up/

[4] https://fightthenewdrug.org/

[5] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6o-rTD9df10

[6] Hot Girls Wanted. Season 1 Episode 1: Women on Top. Written by: Huckabee, B. Directed by: Bauer, J., Gradus, R. Produced by: Jones, R. Two to Tangle Productions. Netflix.

[7] https://vimeo.com/70637039

[8] https://sharedhope.org/

[9] https://www.siliconrepublic.com/companies/tiktok-india-google-apple-child-exploitation TikTok removed from app stores following child exploitation investigation. Retrieved: 14 May 2019.

When we hear the word ‘slaves’ we often think of the slave trade that was used for personal and commercial labour in early society. Owning a slave was common place. It was a triumph of humanity when we finally abolished these slavery practices through The Slave Trade Act in 1807. Before then, William Wilberforce and other members of “the Clapham Sect”, a society of social reformers, found it difficult to convince society that it was not moral nor correct to force people to work as slaves for the sake of personal convenience and economical profit. In our modern day and age, where we now agree on this, slavery has been taken underground. Human trafficking still reaps much economic profit from the using, exploiting, buying and selling of human beings. Habits and ideas take time to change and our current challenge daily is to expose and reveal modern day slavery that takes place. We have a lot to learn from how slavery was previously ‘abolished’.[2]

The small group of English Anglicans, known as “the Clapham Sect”, challenged popular opinion on moral grounds. Although busy professionals, they had a deep conviction that slavery was unjust, and did all they could to convince government of this. William Wilberforce was the spokesperson of the Clapham Sect, who spent years of his life to presenting researched bills again and again to government. They also launched campaigns to educate the public. After many years, England finally passed the Emancipation Bill in 1833, a few days before the death of Wilberforce.

Modern day slavery is a part of our society, operating with much of society’s involvement. Is it possible that our fight against modern day slavery may too result in victories by following the pattern set down by the Clapham Sect? After all, there are many similarities when the crises are compared. Like the slave trade of the Victorian era, human trafficking requires urgent and intensive attention and action from government, as well as strict law enforcement. And like ‘abolished slavery’, our modern day ‘unabolished slavery’ requires public interaction and awareness, to insist on seeing an increased support in ending slavery.

Whilst socially accepted slavery that existed prior to abolition was openly practiced, modern human trafficking is an organised crime that can only be found by those intently seeking it out. Slaves were previously seen as living assets that were owned as property, for the purpose of generating free labour for building society.[3] Slaves are still used to ‘build’ and viewed as ‘property’ today; there are many forms of exploitation in modern day slavery. Currently most trafficking victims are trafficked for sexual exploitation and forced labour.

Wilberforce left a great example for us to follow, so as to bring freedom for all people. Setbacks are not the end, the battle wages on. Every rescued individual counts. With single minded determination, hard work and unity this injustice can be defeated. Apartheid has been abolished, the South African colonial slaves were emancipated in 1822 [4]. Starting this Freedom Day 2019, let’s make this the new era of Freedom!

Sources:

[1] Know your history: 10 facts about Freedom Day. Retrieved from: https://citizen.co.za/news/news-cns/1908140/know-your-history-10-facts-about-freedom-day/

[2] The Clapham Group. Retrieved from: https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1701-1800/the-clapham-group-11630311.html

[3] Slavery: https://www.britannica.com/topic/slavery-sociology

[4] https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/history-slavery-and-early-colonisation-south-africa

We commemorate our rights in South Africa on the 21st of March. In 1960, in the midst of the destructive machinations of South Africa, the Sharpeville Massacre resulted in 69 protestors against apartheid being shot and killed. The day now offers a time for reflection on our rights and values as a country. [1]

At Hope Risen this month, we want to take a look at how human trafficking contradicts our rights as South Africans. Harvard law scholar Cass Sunstein called the South African constitution “the most admirable Constitution in the history of the world.”[2] Since our constitution is relatively ‘young’, it is considered to have a modern attitude towards human rights. In 2015, the ‘Prevention and Combating of Trafficking in Persons Act’ was gazetted, adding strong force to the legal power against human trafficking–– with consequences for those who contribute to human slavery in South Africa facing upto a life sentence in prison.

Labour Trafficking

Whilst many of us look forward to a salary at the end of a difficult month, many are forcefully denied this right – namely, those who are victims of human trafficking. In South Africa where 55% of the population is living in poverty[3], the scramble for employment can make for desperate job-seekers. In turn, this leads to people being vulnerable to labour trafficking in the country. Any labour that is extremely difficult or dangerous and is not sufficiently paid for, is labour trafficking. Labour trafficking may include domestic servitude, where individuals working in a domestic context are forced to work long hours (12-16 hour days), not allowed to leave, or call home and are often not paid. This type of human trafficking violates a number of South Africans’ rights. Section 13 of the Bill of Rights states “No one may be subjected to slavery, servitude or forced labour.” While many of us are enjoying our right to work for pay, we could be using our positions of freedom to make sure vulnerable South Africans are not enslaved.

For more information about labour trafficking see: https://www.stronger2gether.org/za/

Child Trafficking

A good childhood is a foundation for a healthy life. Our children are among our most vulnerable and need us to protect them from human rights violations such as child trafficking. Child trafficking includes child sex trafficking and child labour. Child sex trafficking is the act of forcing children into sexual acts, prostitution or child sexual abuse images – “child pornography” – for the purpose of financial gain. In 56 countries, including South Africa the buying and selling of children for sex or sexual services has been criminalised[4]. Our children are precious to us and the constitution strongly protects these most vulnerable members of our society. Section 28 of our Bill of Rights states that children are not permitted to perform any kind of work that “places at risk the child’s well-being, education, physical or mental health or spiritual, moral or social development;” In South Africa, any person under 18 years of age is considered a child. Furthermore, according to the sexual offenders act, when someone older than 16 has a sexual relationship with a minor this is considered statutory rape even if it’s consensual.[5] Let’s give the children of South Africa a reason to celebrate rights and help to protect theirs.

Organ Trafficking

The value of being healthy is something we cannot quantify as it determines our ability to function and survive, as well as the quality of life we experience. While we are encouraged to celebrate our right to access healthcare (section 27)[6], there are many who have been secretly trafficked for their organs and suffer for the sake of profit. Organ trafficking is the forced or consented removal and illegal sale of organs or body parts. In South Africa, organ trafficking often takes place because of a market for ‘muthi’ or on the black market where consumers would rather pay for an illegal organ than wait for an organ donor. This violates section 12 of the Bill of Rights which states that each person has the right to “security in and control over” his/her own body.

Sex Trafficking, Forced Marriage and Forced Impregnation

Another violation of health and safety rights is sex trafficking, forced marriage and forced impregnation that takes place daily in South Africa. Although data is limited in South Africa, in America two out of every three phone calls to the National Human Trafficking Resource Centre concerns human trafficking[7]. Brothels, strip clubs, escort agencies etc often traffic ‘sex workers’ who are enslaved through debt bondage, drug addictions or even blackmail. We could be gulity of having a part to play in the violation of the rights of these women by choosing to say nothing about it when we know it’s happening! Section 12 of the Bill of Rights states that “Everyone has the right to bodily and psychological integrity, which includes the right to make decisions concerning reproduction”. Sex trafficking, marriage without consent and forced impregnation clearly violates these rights, leaving little to celebrate.

South Africa: Looking forward

In 2013, the government gazetted a new law: the ‘Prevention and Combating of Trafficking in Persons Act, 2013’, which came into force in August 2015. This law provides for the implementation of high penalties for perpertrators, and protection as well as assistance for victims, including those trafficked across our borders. The implemtation of this law is in its infancy and we still need to see many come to justice and answer for the violation of countless South Africans’ rights.

Whilst the country takes time to celebrate the enjoyment of rights, we encourage all to consider those whose rights are being severely violated. As a country, we have a long way to go before we can honestly say that all citizens’ rights are being adequately protected. As fellow South Africans, let’s protect each other’s rights and make a conscious effort to join the fight – and not let the vulnerable be hurt any further. With such a powerful constitution and stringent laws, we have the opportunity to bring justice to our country – let’s hold each other accountable and responsible for our contribution towards human slavery in Mzansi. Togther we can put an end to modern day slavery.

Sources

[1] South African Government, Human Rights Day https://www.gov.za/human-rights-day

[2] Brand South Africa Home, https://www.brandsouthafrica.com/people-culture/history-heritage/eighteen-years-of-the-world-s-best-constitution

[3] Poverty on the Rise in South Africa, Statistics South Africa. Retrieved from: http://www.statssa.gov.za/?p=10334

[4] Global Findings, The Global Slavery Index. Retrieved from: https://www.globalslaveryindex.org/2018/findings/global-findings/

[5] https://africacheck.org/reports/are-sa-children-older-than-12-allowed-to-have-consensual-sex-as-daily-sun-said/

[6] Right to Health Care https://www.sahrc.org.za/home/21/files/Reports/4th_esr_chap_4.pdf

[7] www.socialwork.une.edu

Educating yourself and those around you is an important element for us to see Human Trafficking eradicated in our world today.

Human Trafficking is modern day slavery; trading in people with the intention of exploiting them. Exploitation could include using people for personal gain, for profits of large sums of money or for the use of free labour.

As per South African legislation, the following 3 components are necessary for a case to classify as trafficking:

1. Mobilization: Any person who delivers, recruits, transports, transfers, harbours, sells, exchanges, leases or receives another person within or across the borders of the Republic.
2. Means: By means of threat of harm, threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, the abuse of vulnerability, fraud, deception, abduction, kidnapping, the abuse of power, direct or indirect giving or receiving of payments or benefits to obtain the consent of a person having control or authority over another person, the direct or indirect giving or receiving of payments, compensation, rewards, benefits or any other advantage aimed at either the person or an immediate family member of that person or any other person in close relationship to that person.
3. Exploitation: For the purpose of any form or manner of exploitation.All forms of slavery, similar practices, sexual exploitation, servitude, forced labour, child labour, removal of body parts, forced impregnation with a purpose of selling the child, forced marriage for exploitation and adoption for exploitation.

“Human Trafficking is not a crime that calls out “Here I am!” It will often not be seen if it is not looked for.” ~ A Tangled Web (MMA Report)

Types of Human Trafficking

1. Sexual Exploitation

Types of sexual exploitation:

• Forced Prostitution
• Pornography
• Stripping
• Exotic Dancing
• Touch and Peep Shows
• Escort Services
• ‘Training’ to deal with clients who have particular fetishes

Industry examples include:

• Brothels
• “Massage” Parlours
• Fetish Clubs
• Classified Ads
• “Gentlemen’s Clubs”

2. Child Exploitation

Any work that is unsuitable for the child and that will have negative impact on their social, mental, physical or emotional development.

Industry examples include:

• Make Up (Mica Mineral)
• Clothing
• Carpets and Textile
• War (Child Soldiers)
• Coco Harvesting

3. Forced Labour

Difficult, dirty or dangerous jobs.

Industry examples include:

• Fishing
• Mining
• Agricultural

4. Domestic Servitude:

• Forced to work long hours (12–16 hour days)
• Not allowed to leave, or call home
• Often not paid
• Often includes other abuse too.

Industry examples:

• Private Homes
• Hospitality Industry
• Au Pair Industry

5. Forced Marriages

• Often much older men abducting or buying much younger girls.
• Distortion of traditional cultural practices.

6. Organ and Body Part Trafficking

This is the forced removal and illegal sale of organs / body parts.

Industry examples:

• Black Market
• “Muthi”
• Medical Field (those willing to pay very high sums to skip the ‘system’)

How does this happen?

The local context and specific situation will determine who is most at risk and how they will be exploited.

Traffickers can be:

• Gangs & Organised Crime Syndicates
• Friends
• Family Members
• Acquaintances (someone who knows someone)
• 54% of cases involve strangers vs 46% of cases involve someone the victim already knows.

Facilitators include:

• Brothel & Strip Club Owners and Pimps
• Transport Providers
• Government Officials
• Professional Individuals

Red Flags

The following Red Flags can be used to help identify potential Human Trafficking cases. If you have come across an incident that may have the following Red Flags it is important to report that to your local police station or to the HFW contact line.

• No local dialects
• New arrival in the country
• Lack of documentation / documents controlled by someone else
• Debt bondage
• Child accompanied by an unrelated adult
• Submissive / signs of fear / depression / extreme nervousness
• Lack of freedom to move
• Watched 24/7 or living with employer
• Poor living conditions
• Answers appear scripted or rehearsed
• Give a vague / inconsistent explanation of where they live and work
• Appears to move location frequently
• Unpaid or paid very little
• Stockholm Syndrome
• Under 18 and in prostitution / providing commercial sex acts
• Serious injuries left untreated & vague or reluctant to explain
• Evidence of long term multiple injuries
• Signs of physical abuse or general physical neglect
• Branding tattoos
• Indications of mental, physical or sexual trauma
• Sexually transmitted infections
• Pregnant / previous abortions
• Drug addiction
• Disordered eating or poor nutrition
• Evidence of self-harm
• Dental pain
• Fatigue
• Non-specific symptoms of PTSD
• Symptoms of psychiatric and psychological distress
• Back or stomach pain, skin problems, headaches and dizzy spells

What can you do?

Be a Voice

Awareness is a huge need in South Africa — the average South African doesn’t know that Human Trafficking is a problem in our country. Email admin@hopeforwomen.co.za for more details on our Anti-Human Trafficking Workshops.

• Book a Speaker
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• Raise awareness with your friends & family

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