Human trafficking is far more challenging to control and prevent because of the way in which criminals target their victims. This conclusion can be drawn from information shared by Major Margaret Stafford, the national coordinator of Anti-Human Trafficking of the Salvation Army during her talk at Edenvale Rotary Club on Monday, June 20.
Maj Stafford, who is also a member of Edenvale Rotary said, “The Salvation Army has been involved in anti-human trafficking since 1896. The focus in today’s times is more on prevention and education rather than providing safe houses as was done in the past, although the shelters that we have at present house victims of human trafficking,” said Maj Stafford.
In 2015 the Salvation Army had a stall at the Sexpo exhibition where they conducted a social experiment to show how easy it is to become a victim of human trafficking.
“The organisation ran an advertisement for a fake job which seemed too good to be true: R50 000 per month salary and round-the-world travel,” said Ms Linda Clarke, the secretary for the Edenvale Rotary Club.
After registering for the job the girls received notifications stating: “You have just become one of 21 million people to be lured into human trafficking through false job promises.”
“In the space of just a few hours 300 young people had signed up,” said Ms Clarke.
She added that the traffickers will organise and handle everything: passports, plane tickets and accommodation.
Young people are warned that if it seems too good to be true then it probably is and that things are not what they seem.
“People are vulnerable to exploitation as a result of motivation by money, poverty, desperation or even lack of education,” said Maj Stafford.
She said that she has met graduates on the streets of Cape Town prostituting themselves to pay off student loans.
“Children are sold for sex often to support a drug habit; there are children on the streets of Edenvale too,” said Maj Stafford.
The Salvation Army is addressing this problem by speaking to prostitutes and rescuing children off the streets.
“They are in the process of providing awareness packs which are to be distributed in schools and which also provide helpline numbers. Additionally they are creating travel information packs for first-time travellers which explains what to do, where to go, emergency numbers and Rotary SA National helplines.” said Ms Clarke.
“There are a number of statistics being bandied about but we really have no clue as to the extent of this problem of human trafficking.
“We are beginning to see some results in the data capturing done around the topic but the lack of reliable statistics makes it very difficult to put a number to the problem,” said Maj Stafford. She said that a person only needs to drive around any town at night and see how many women and some men are on the street selling their bodies as a form of employment.
“The Salvation Army cannot do this on their own. We create partnerships with organisations that we trust, such as Rotary. The relationship between the two organisations has existed for many years and has always been an effective one,” said Maj Stafford.
