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STOP
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Written by Doreen Gaura
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Tuesday, 24 July 2012 16:04 |
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Earlier in the month, journalist for The Star newspaper, Noor-Jehan Yoro Badat, interviewed our social worker, Shireen Pekeur for an in-depth article she was writing on the issue of human trafficking in South Africa. You can find below the section of the article where Pekeur makes comment on our work and experiences with trafficking victims. To read the full article titled How We Help Modern Slaves please click on link.
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‘The most vulnerable are those exploited,’ says Shireen Pekeur
As a trained social worker, when I see a victim, I know what to do. You get taught to not let your personal feelings interfere.
You try not let the history of someone’s life affect you.
I’m fairly new to our victim assistance programme, and I’ve worked on very few trafficking cases. The one that stays with me is the girl who came from the Northern Cape.
At the age of 16, she was brought down to Cape Town by a man who recruited women for domestic work.
As a domestic worker, it seemed like she had good working conditions, but her employer’s husband continually harassed her sexually and finally raped her.
What saddened me was that she was an innocent and very gullible.
It angers me that it’s those who are most vulnerable who are exploited. And they’re brought from other places with the hope of a better life. You feel helpless. You can only put a bandage on a wound.
Because these girls often don’t have family, they get sent back to where they came from, which is often a poverty-stricken environment.
There’s no support system for them, no jobs, so some will return.
Family is an important link to repatriation. Just the fact that you can speak to families, and they’re not going to reject these girls, it’s encouraging for them.
It was a reward for me to know that the girl we sent back to the Northern Cape was happy.
The social worker was also happy with my work, that I gave this girl a sense of dignity.
You know, success for me would be if she found a job, but resources in the rural areas of the Northern Cape are limited.
There are few social workers who specialise in human trafficking. Our case loads are high. It sometimes feels like we just put out the flames.
Social workers are basically dealing with the surface layer but are not digging deeper to find out what happens, and to walk a road with that person. And that person can fall through the cracks.
It’s stressful finding the shelters for these women and children. You don’t want to allow them to become victims of the system again.
Pekeur is a social worker for Activists Networking against the Exploitation of Children (ANEX) in Cape Town. |
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 24 July 2012 16:24 )
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Written by Matipa
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Thursday, 07 April 2011 00:00 |
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The crime of human trafficking within South Africa continues to be shrouded with mystery , whilst the victims remain faceless and voiceless. South Africa lacks sufficient legislation against human trafficking to empower these victims,restore their dignity and uphold their basic human rights.
South Africa recently commemorated and celebrated the fact that fifty years ago citizens protested against pass laws on 21st March 1950. This collective action which brought forth Human Rights Day; a day which focuses on honouring their actions, and reflecting on how we are currently experiencing the protection of our rights. The day passes, memories and emotions are stirred, calls to action are the popular action, and on the next day we return to work, and the day to day struggles for dignity and human rights continue. Sadly, so do the tragedies. One crime that stands out for its heinous nature is human trafficking, stripping its victim’s of their dignity, freedom of movement, freedom of association, and unequivocally denying them their human rights.
This form of modern slavery is as insidious as any organised criminal endeavour and takes on terrible forms which involve, domestic servitude, forced labour, sexual exploitation, forced marriages and the trafficking of body organs and body parts. On March 29th 2011, the Cape Times reported the arrest of two Chinese females who were accused of running a brothel where they lured other Chinese women with promises of high paying jobs and subsequently forced them into sexual exploitation. The two women were charged with the Common Law crimes of kidnapping, assault, and keeping a brothel. Currently the women are out on R 5000 bail.
Kidnapping, assault, and running a brothel are all criminal activities under our law, but human trafficking, per se, is yet to be seen under the law as a crime in and of itself. The conjunction of various criminal elements, which at present are viewed disjunctively, that [collectively] constitute human trafficking , as an entity, warrant it its own punitive measures.
The legislative bill is currently in parliament, where it has languished for several years. While the lengthy process should produce a quality result, the current lack of legislation not only impacts on the prosecution of traffickers, but ultimately has negative impacts on victim assistance. This is evident through the lack of standard operating procedures and clear referral guidelines for victim assistance workers which in some instances results in secondary victimisation of the victim. Once rescued, another challenge which exists is the lack of places of safety solely dedicated to accommodating victims of this crime, particularly children and men.
Working without a legal framework makes effectiveness difficult for law enforcement, civil society, and the international organisations trying to combat the criminal phenomenon of human trafficking. Without legislation networks of victim assistance services lag behind for want of a government mandate to accurately record and refer cases, funding allocation and specialised services to meet the needs of the human trafficking victims. Reinforced victim assistance services ultimately impact and empower victims to come out and report and speak out against trafficking, so that the survivors no longer remain ‘faceless’ and ‘voiceless’.
Efforts to counter trafficking leading up to and after 2010 should be commended, however, it will take more practical measures to address issues around prosecution, prevention and protection of victims of this crime to instil, restore and regain the basic human rights taken away from these victims. Human trafficking is not just a crime against an individual but indeed a crime against humanity. Human rights month has come to an end and is celebrated for triumphantly defeating a previous dispensation that violated these rights, 51 years later the perpetuation of injustices against humanity continues not because of a failure of the previous struggle but rather the present-day struggle to enforce and implement sufficient protective measures for those who are ‘faceless’ and ‘voiceless’.
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Written by Matipa Mwamuka
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Tuesday, 23 March 2010 02:00 |
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Justice Minister guarantees anti trafficking legislation in April 2010
Justice Minister , Jeff Radebe introduced the much anticipated human trafficking bill on the 16 of March 2010 in Parliament. Civil society organisations and international organisations active in the strife against this crime continue to face challenges, due to the limited resources available to assist victims of trafficking. The reality of not criminalising trafficking continues to result in most cases of trafficking going unreported, unrecorded and the failure of service providers to assist the victim adequately. The concerns around Human trafficking in South Africa are often closely associated with the 2010 FIFA World Cup, which is anticipated to result in a deluge of human trafficking cases. This may be a harsh reality , however, the crime of trafficking trafficking is not episodic but is perpetual and much broader than anticipated.
As a children’s rights organisation working to combat human trafficking, Anex believes that legislating this crime will ensure that specialised resources will be allocated to assist survivors of this crime to ensure that the fundamental rights of the victim are upheld from the point of rescue till the victim is safely reintegrated in a safe environment in their community, province or country of origin. The Prevention of Trafficking in Persons Legislation, once enacted and implemented, will ensure and place both a civil and state obligation especially the relevant government departments to directly engage or support initiatives geared towards the identification, investigation and prosecution of cases of human trafficking.
Anex supports the progress and reassurance made by the Minister of Justice to take action against the crime as this will ensure accurate data and statistics of the crime. This will ultimately change the discourse around human trafficking to empower the victim to access services and support and speak out openly about what is currently viewed as a faceless crime. |
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Written by Matipa
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Wednesday, 14 October 2009 10:46 |
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Anex was recently approached by SANTAC (Southern African Network against trafficking and child abuse) to roll out a provincial campaign on child trafficking during the 2010 period. The 2010 Redlight Campaign is a regional campaign which is the brainchild of SANTAC. The aim of the campaign is to Prevent trafficking ,exploitation and abuse of women and children through:
- Advocacy and lobbying
- Public education and awareness raising
- Ensure that protection of women and children is given priority during the 2010 FWC in the operations and security plans
- Establish a national working group to develop a child protection framework filter provincially and within the host cities.
The campaign is structured on 3 major pillars
Child participation and youth empowerment, enhancing social partnerships, engaging with all forms of media to ensure information dissemination and public education around child protection and exploitation of women on 2010.
The official launch of the campaign took place in the Gauteng province in November 2008.The intention for the campaign is for it to reach all provinces particularly the host cities in addition to neighbouring countries. Within the region the campaign has been launched in Zambia, Lesotho and Zimbabwe.
Anex launched the campaign in the Western Cape on the 28th of September at the Iziko Slave Museum. Although the campaign was launched in September some campaign activities had already commenced prior to the launch, one campaign activitiy involved the youth’s participation in a child trafficking poster design competition. 8 high schools participated ( Sinethemba High( Philippi), Muizenberg High,Hout Bay High, Modderdam High, Phoenix High, Ocean View High, Isilimela Comprehensive(Langa), Instshikumo high(Gugulethu) and 5 creative learners from each school were identified to partake in a day session where an artist will facilitate the poster design for the entrants.
( please see report and footage of the workshop for more information on this activity)
The second major campaign activity involves a Road Show in 4 rural towns in the Western Cape( Paarl, Laingsburg, Prins Albert and Beaufort West). This will take place from 23rd- 27 November 2009 during the 16 Days of Activism. The intention of taking the campaign to the children and women in these rural towns would be raise awareness in the source areas/ origin points where most in-country trafficking victims are lured from within the Western Cape. During this period capacity building of service providers on child trafficking will also take place.
More updates on the campaign activites will be uploaded on the website. |
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 14 October 2009 13:45 )
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Prevention, Protection and Prosecution are integral in ultimately combating human trafficking. The STOP programme (Stop the trafficking of persons) endeavours to counteract trafficking through preventative strategies which form the basis of the programme activities.
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