Salvation Army welcomes focus on human trafficking

THE Salvation Army has welcomed this year’s focus on World Day of Social Justice on ending human trafficking and forced labour.

The organisation has urged South Africans to make a renewed effort to bring to light instances of people, particularly women and children, being held against their will in acts of trafficking.

Starting on the 2015 day of observation (20 February), Major Carin Holmes, PR secretary of The Salvation Army Southern Africa Territory, said complacency with respect to human trafficking can easily set in, and it is important to keep raising awareness of this scourge in society.

“In our work as The Salvation Army, we are frequently contacted through our toll-free hotline – 08000 73728 – about women and children disappearing from their homes, many of whom are suspected of being abducted into human trafficking. Any tips that we receive from our hotline are passed on to the SAPS, who are asked to follow up. Our hotline is seen by many as a ‘safe’ way of passing on information about possible human trafficking going on in their communities,” said Holmes.

According to the International Labour Organisation, there are 21 million people in the world who are victims of forced labour, of whom 4.5 million are victims of forced sexual exploitation.

Major Holmes said guidelines from World Hope South Africa for people wanting to prevent human trafficking in their communities were useful. She said these included the fact that people needed to tell their friends and neighbours how to protect themselves from being trafficked, and learn to recognise trafficked persons, who are often unable to speak the local language. They appear to be trapped in their job or the place they stay and may have bruises and other signs of physical abuse. These people do not have identification documents (passport, ID, refugee or asylum papers).

Report places where you suspect trafficked people are kept, for example, brothels, farms, factories and shebeens, to the local authorities and the media.

Report people you suspect may be traffickers to the local authorities such as the police and NGOs, and the media.