Human trafficking statistics ‘in triple digits’

South Africa reported an annual doubling in the number of people who were trafficked and, people at the coalface said, it’s getting worse.

Aside from the drug trade, US authorities rank human trafficking as the second fastest-growing serious crime in the world.

South Africa remains a tier 2 country on the United States human trafficking watchlist, which means that, while the country is not compliant with all interventions stipulated, it is making an effort to get in line with the rest of the world.

“The problem is out of control,” said security expert Marius van der Merwe, who frequently leads and participates in extraction operations along with law enforcement.

“The things that I have seen in the past 12 months has made me more concerned than ever about the sheer magnitude of its prevalence.”

Van der Merwe said a few weeks ago there was a raid on an East Rand compound where young women were being held, drugged, in a container village, ready to be shipped abroad as prostitutes or sex slaves to wealthy clients.

“Many of the trafficked young women, however, are enslaved locally.”

Debbie de Beer of South African Community Crime Watch said: “They have to be kept in places of safety, otherwise these women will head back to their captors, because the allure of drugs and the extent of their addiction compels them to do so. It’s a life of prostitution, abuse and slavery.”

According to recent reports by the department of justice and constitutional development, the number of people trapped in human trafficking was 83, compared with 16 in 2021.

In addition, 24 children were trafficked but rescued by nonprofit organisations and a further 62 potential victims were identified.

The National Human Trafficking Hotline received 2 146 calls in 2021. As a result, 20 people were removed from exploitation.

But Van der Merwe said this was just the tip of the iceberg.

“The statistics are skewed. A lot of this goes unreported. I estimate the real number is far closer to triple digits.”

In the past, De Beer said, a lot of trafficking was related to servitude or labour.

However, more common today is the capture of young children, some as young as 11 years old, for the sex industry or as someone’s sex toy.

And it’s easier than before to pick and choose victims, thanks to social media, said De Beer.

“Teens and young women love to be sexy on social media, to pose suggestively or show off their bodies. And this is where the fishing for victims starts.”

Van der Merwe said grooming online can happen over months, and, when the young women meet their suitors, they are introduced to drugs, form a dependency and are conned into the sex trade.

“Social media can be like a giant noticeboard where people just don’t hesitate to impart very personal information,” said De Beer, who has seen cases where a few weeks of communication between parties resulted in the gifting of sensitive information like residential addresses, family situations and personal challenges and ideas.

This is how fishers ensnare them.

“They are sold dreams of riches and an easy life by these suitors,” added De Beer.

Often, she said, a rebellious teenager, a child from a broken home or a young woman who wants to spread her wings fall prey to these predators.

She called it “seduction trafficking”.

The age range most at risk, according to De Beer, is 14 to 19, with a spillover into early 20s. The victims are predominantly female.

And while many are lured by the promise of a glamorous life and money because life at home may not be favourable, there have also been several cases of wealthier individuals sliding down the slippery slope in search of freedom and independence.

“Saving trafficked people is a complex process,” said Van der Merwe. “It happens every day under our noses.

“The best form of protection is prevention, and this is the role parents and educators should be playing, more intently.

“In today’s digitised and sexualised world it may not always be possible to control the content young women publish of themselves, but what can be taught is how they respond to suitors who prey on their state of being.”