THE battle lines have been drawn and the soldiers set to march against the enemies of society – the modern day slavers, feeding off their exploitation of the innocent, the weak and the vulnerable.
Scores of Arboretum Primary School children took a stand on behalf of child victims, abducted and trafficked through the underbelly of human society every day.
They marked their protest by wearing red and marking their hands with a red cross, taking up the challenge issued by Pastor Caroline Pitout of the AGS Kerk Sonder Mure at the school on Wednesday.
The anti-human-trafficking initiative is aligned with the worldwide ‘Shine a Light on Slavery Day’ tomorrow (Friday).
Engaging them with chocolate offerings, Pastor Pitout demonstrated how easy it is for children to fall prey to abductors.
She asked her young audience by a show of hands to indicate how many accepted chocolate or jumped in a car with strangers or went to the shopping complex alone.
A shocking number of hands shot up, candidly admitting to all these high risk practices.
‘The red cross is an indicator that something is wrong. If you get a red cross in your book, it means you have made a big mistake. That is what this cross stands for.’
Pitout said they are aware of two trafficking houses in Richards Bay and Empangeni.
According to statistics published by the Salvation Army Southern Africa Territory, it is estimated that 30 000 children are being prostituted in South Africa, half younger than 14. Children as young as four are being prostituted by paedophile networks.
