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World Day Against Trafficking

World Day Against Trafficking

Author: Dr Monique Emser
Date: 2016-08-05
'We are the cause of this tragedy, and thus also a part of the solution.'

Trafficking in persons is an untenable tragedy of our own making. As we mark another World Day against Trafficking in Persons on 30 July, we should take stock of our complicity, and what we are doing individually and collectively to eradicate this heinous crime.

While not a causal factor of trafficking in persons, conflict, extremism, political instability, discrimination, weak rule of law and poverty push millions of people to the brink globally and render them vulnerable to exploitation as they flee these volatile situations or seek better opportunities for themselves and their families. A staggering 65.3 million people found themselves displaced from their homes by conflict or persecution in 2015.

While estimates vary as to the actual number of vulnerable people who find themselves coerced, manipulated and ultimately exploited for profit, it is now commonly accepted that there are at least 21 million people who are victims of forced labour across the world.

Men, women and children are trafficked for forced labour in agriculture, construction, mining, fishing, manufacturing, domestic work, hospitality, begging, entertainment, and for sexual exploitation. They are often lured by false promises of jobs, education or to pay off debts. The forced recruitment of children to fight in conflicts, organ and body part trafficking, and forced marriage are also a sad reality. Migrants, those fleeing conflict, and children are especially vulnerable.

Trafficking has become part and parcel of the global economy, tainting an array of products and services that we consume or take for granted. From the food we eat and the clothes we wear to communication technology, like cell phones, there is a strong likelihood that trafficking may have occurred at one or multiple points in that product's life cycle.

Turning our gaze closer to home, recent stories reinforce the notion that we still have a long battle ahead of us. On 21 June, a young albino boy, Maneliswa Ntombela, aged 4, was kidnapped by two men at eSkhaleni in Richards Bay. It is feared that he has been sold so that his body parts may be used in muti rituals. He is yet to be found. Days later, the police acting on the tip-off from traditional healer, James Mthembu, arrested a 28 year old woman from Thobothini, near Jozini, for trying to sell three albino children for more than R100000. She has since been charged with human trafficking.

Let us dedicate this World Day against Trafficking in Persons to Maneliswa Ntombela and the millions of victims of trafficking who remain unidentified. We are the cause of this tragedy, and thus also a part of the solution.