Stakeholders gear up to combat human trafficking

TRICKED, transported, trapped and exploited.

That is how State Advocate Dawn Coleman Malinga, the keynote speaker at a two-day human trafficking training workshop hosted by the AGS Kerk Sonder Mure on Thursday and Friday, described the fate of human traffic victims.

The training was aimed at equipping police, prosecutors, immigration officials, border control personnel and local NGOs to identify human trafficking and associated clandestine practices amid a rising number of reported cases locally, nationally and abroad.

Advocate Malinga and specialist Hawks detective, Lt Abby Dyanand of the KZN Human Trafficking Prostitution and Brothels Task Team, work hand-in-glove to expose, dismantle and prosecute syndicates, while training more teams to take up the task.

Through trial and error in uncharted territory, the team is spearheading successful investigations and prosecutions across the province.

‘We’ve realised that key blockages in identifying and rescuing victims, are people’s perceptions and biases.

‘Because trafficking is largely about sexual exploitation, most victims are prostitutes,’ said Malinga.

‘We must look inward and explore our psychological reaction to these victims, instead of stereotyping them judged on outward appearance and behaviour.

‘If we do not investigate the case at hand and treat each victim the same, we are not carrying out justice.

‘Victims then experience secondary victimisation.’

A victim must work against their will and are not free to leave because they owe the trafficker money for food, board and lodging and travelling expenses.

They are controlled via drug dependence, violence, threats of violence, rape, the withholding of travelling documents and blackmail.

Traffic victims are often locked inside premises, wear long sleeves to hide injuries, are unable to communicate in the local language, do not know their physical address and are unable to negotiate working conditions.

They have no access to their earning, have excessively long working hours and no social interaction.