Protecting children from going missing and being trafficked a concern
'The notion that you have to wait 48 hours to report a missing child is misleading. Report immediately.'
This year’s festive season might not be a typical one but what has always remained a concern unfortunately is that we need to be alert to threats to child safety – including child trafficking warned Girls and Boys Town South Africa (GBTSA) and Missing Children South Africa (MCSA).
According to Bianca van Aswegen, MCSA spokesperson, GBTSA in collaboration with MCSA seek to highlight the circumstances where children go missing and how we can secure the safety of our children. As MCSA documented, there are different reasons why a child goes missing.
They broke it down as follow:
• Category runaway – A child who runs away due to abuse, bullying at school and other factors that a child might deem unsafe for them to carry on living there – not for being naughty
• Kidnapping – a broad category that includes human trafficking but also expands to opportunistic kidnappings (takes place because an opportunity presented itself to the perpetrator), family kidnappings (where the court has not yet appointed a guardian for a child and/or the child is taken by one of the parents or family member), ransom kidnappings (where perpetrators demand something of value to them in exchange of the return of the victim to loved ones and human trafficking (where a person is abducted into various forms of exploitation – thus for a specific purpose). Unequal power and exploitation are the hallmarks of trafficking. Many are puzzled about what human trafficking actually involves and how it can happen in an age where we all seem to leave a trail of our activities.
Van Aswegen said the problem is compounded by a lack of quantifiable data.
“We gleam from authentic cases identified by service organisations and law enforcement institutions that”:
• Children are trafficked across South Africa’s borders and within the country, usually from rural areas to the cities.
• Adolescent girls are usually trafficked to become unpaid and overworked domestic workers or for commercial sexual exploitation.
• Boys are likely to be trafficked to work in agriculture or in street vending.
So what can be done about it?
The notion that you have to wait 48 hours to report a missing child is misleading. Report immediately. The first 28 to 48 hours are critical in the case of human trafficking because a child can be taken anywhere during this time,” van Aswegen said.
MCSA noted a number of cases where a person known to the family and child had a hand in the child going missing.
“While lessons on ‘stranger danger’ are valid, realistically, there is a need to teach children that even people they trust can bring them harm. Tell them what to do in a situation where they are taken against their will. Teach them to make a scene – kick and scream for help, show them how to spot people who can help them such as security guards and shop assistants for example.
“Equally important is to teach them basic things like your full name, their own full name, your home address, your phone number and when going out, dress children in bright colours that can be seen in a crowd. While these acts may not always protect the child, they can go a long way when trouble presents itself,” continued van Aswegen.
She added in the case where a child has run away from home, organisations such as GBTSA can step in.
Through its national footprint and work with other youth and social development services, it remains alert to places and circumstances that exacerbate vulnerability of some communities, families and children. Secondly, as GBTSA and in partnership with other agencies seeks to offer them a solution – before the traffickers do.”
GBTSA does this through:
• Care in residence: GBTSA’s 10 residential centres provide safety, therapeutic interventions and a home to over 100 girls and boys who have been put into its care by the Children’s Court. Children in their care are typically those that have experienced physical and psychological trauma. Many have been abandoned and abused in sexual and other ways. The programmes help them to heal, build confidence and a sense of self-worth which are vital aspects of ability and agency to protect themselves when they leave the safety of residences.
• Care in family: Our Family Services unit works directly with high-risk families to build their coping skills and stronger family relationships which help to avert family disintegration and separations – which are factors exploited by child traffickers. Family workers meet families where they are, motivate and teach skills and empower youth and their care-givers to reclaim responsibility for their futures. GBTSA’s national hotline (0861-58-58-58) provides telephone counselling service for young people and families in distress and referrals to other support services.
Girls and Boys Town South Africa
Girls and Boys Town South Africa (GBTSA) was established in 1958 and is a national non-profit organisation that runs proven and successful programmes to strengthen vulnerable youth. Through a combination of interventions GBTSA, on average, assists between 16 000 to 20 000 beneficiaries a year.
Missing Children South Africa
Missing Children South Africa was established in March 2007 in response to the kidnapping and brutal murders of Sheldean Human, 7, from Pretoria and Anestacia Wiese, 12, from Mitchell’s Plain, in an effort to assist and support families finding themselves in similar desperate situations. It is a first tier is emergency response service with a national helpline for incident reports. MCSA assists the South African Police Service (SAPS) in all missing persons cases in South Africa.
