Articles
13-July-2010
As a transport company with vehicles regularly crossing the country’s borders, are you absolutely certain you know exactly what is in those cargo holds – or do you just think you know? Perhaps it’s time to take a closer look.
Human trafficking is a hideous crime, yet every country in the world is affected either as a source, transit or destination or a combination of all of these. And South Africa is no exception.
Human trafficking is the third largest criminal activity worldwide, after arms and drugs. It affects all sectors of society, with some 2,5-million people trafficked every year, according to the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
The definition of human trafficking is structured around three major elements: transport, means and exploitation. The victims are recruited or transferred through some form of coercion or deception and exploited, mainly for forced labour or sexual purposes. Women and children are the primary targets but men are also trafficked. This can be summarised simply as ‘human misery’.
The impact on South Africa is blurred, where statistics are out of date, non-existent or vague.
Definitions in particular are non-existent. Estimates of…
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