The Bethany House Trust NGO will be marking 2021 World Day Against Trafficking in Persons between July 26 and 30 by means of an awareness campaign addressing issues that are fast becoming a pandemic.
A social worker and spokesperson of the NGO, Mpo Bambo said trafficking in persons is defined as an act of delivering, recruiting, transporting, transferring, harbouring, selling, exchanging, leasing or receiving another person within or across a border of their place of origin by means of threat, deception, abuse of vulnerability, or some form of coercion.
While everyone is affected and can be a victim of human trafficking, girls between the ages of 12 and 14, and boys aged 11 to 13 are the ones most vulnerable.
“They are mostly trafficked for child labour, sexual exploitation and forced marriages, to name a few,” Mpo added.
Through their NGO, which was established in 1998, they attend to the critical need of young people for shelter, access to primary healthcare and education. Human trafficking or trafficking in persons is one of the issues they tackle in society.
He said although they’ve never handled any case locally, it is still important to create awareness. He thanked law-enforcement agencies such as the Directorate of Priority Crime Investigation, and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) that have collaborated to compile evidence and build cases against perpetrators.
The government prosecuted suspects in 31 new trafficking cases of an unknown number of individuals, and continued prosecutions in 14 cases from prior reporting periods, compared to the prosecution of 71 individuals for trafficking crimes in an unknown number of cases during the previous reporting period,” Mpo said.
Mpo said the NPO will partner with the Gauteng Department of Social Development, Randfontein Taxi Owners Association and other stakeholders to create awareness among Rand West City residents by visiting local shopping centres and taxis rank to hand out pamphlets and blue ribbons that represent the fight against trafficking in persons, as they make an effort to raise awareness in the community.
We will be doing an exhibition at the Randfontein Taxi Rank on Friday, July 30.”
