Stand up against human trafficking

On the morning of Saturday, 6 April, residents of the Princess informal settlement took part in a community awareness campaign.

The purpose of the event was to raise awareness of matters affecting the community, including human trafficking. The stakeholders of the event were the Roodepoort Police, Region C’s Health Department, the Community Policing Forum from Roodepoort, the Princess and Roodepoort West Neighbourhood Watches, the Department of Social Services, and Liberty Church, which is based in Discovery. The community appreciated the assistance received from the police in relation to human trafficking, and learnt one special word – “NO”. They were reminded of all the emergency numbers and learnt the Crime Stop number (08600 10111) to which they can report criminal activity in their area.

Region C Health Department officials interacted with the community and assisted in checking for high blood pressure, diabetes, HIV and tuberculosis. The children also received vitamins and were dewormed.

The same officials taught the community about human trafficking red flags for adults and children, namely signs of physical injuries and abuse, avoiding eye contact, lack of social interaction, and avoidance of authority figures or law enforcement. They also pointed out a number of other issues that contribute to human trafficking, including not having official identification documents; appearing destitute or lacking in personal possessions; working excessively long hours; checking into hotels with older males, and referring to those males as boyfriend or “daddy,” which is often street slang for pimp; and poor physical or dental health.

Roodepoort Police’s communication officer, Captain Juanita-Anne Yorke; the Sector 2 manager, Warrant Officer Johan Loots, and the missing persons coordinator, Sergeant Juliet Mogale, attended the event.

The police would like to thank all the role players and the community for their participation, and hope to have more events soon.