Human Trafficking Prevention

Trafficking Methods

• Traffickers use social media to groom young children and convince them to meet, leading to kidnapping and sale to other traffickers.
• Traffickers promise job seekers employment and transportation, but take their ID documents and passports, holding them captive.

The 3 Elements of Trafficking

• The act and means (methods/ways) are used for the purpose of exploitation.
• The definition of exploitation includes, at a minimum, the exploitation of prostitution, forced labor or services, slavery, and servitude.
• States parties are at liberty to add other forms of exploitation to their domestic laws.

Prevention and Combating of Trafficking in Persons Act 7 of 2013

• The Act defines trafficking in persons, with similarities and differences to the Protocol.
• The differences between the Act and Protocol are additions to the definition, not detractions.
• The Act criminalizes forced marriage, illegal adoption, and child abuse, which are not explicitly mentioned in the Protocol.

South African Perspective

• South Africa is a source, transit, and destination country for trafficking.
• Victims can be trafficked from one province to another, and women and children are often trafficked from rural areas to cities.
• South Africa can be a transit country for trafficking, with international syndicates operating in the country.

Types of Trafficking

• Sexual exploitation is a common type of trafficking, often involving prostitution and sex work.
• Servitude is a condition where labor or services are provided through threats of harm or schemes to create fear.
• Debt bondage is different from servitude, as it creates an illusion of voluntary participation to pay off a debt.

Consent

• Consent to the perpetrator's act obtained through coercion or fraud is void.
• Certain groups, such as children and mentally disabled individuals, are deemed incapable of delivering informed consent.
• The quality of consent is not just about whether it is given, but also about how it is given.
• Economic vulnerability can damage the quality of consent, and the greater the vulnerability, the more compelling the evidence of consent should be.

Abuse of a Position of Vulnerability

• For consent to be considered irrelevant, the person to whom consent is given must have abused an existing or created vulnerability to secure an act intended to result in exploitation.

Values

• In all major legal systems, consent can be overridden on the basis of public interest, order, or morality.
• In South Africa, the Constitutional fundamental right of human dignity, freedom, and equality is used to determine values.
• Personal autonomy recognizes the individual's right to make decisions, even if they are high-risk or likely to result in harm.