What is Trafficking in Persons?

Trafficking is a PROCESS that consists of 3 stages: 1. RecruitmentPlace of Origin of a person 2. TransportationPlace of Transit of a person 3. ExploitationPlace of Destination of a person

Forcible recruitment Victims are forcibly taken Fully deceptive recruitment Victims are lured by promises of employment or educational opportunities and/ or financial gain and are fully deceived as to the true intentions of the traffickers. Partially deceptive recruitment Victims may be aware that they are to be employed in a given activity but do not know under what conditions

Transportation  Origin, transit and destination countries  Legally or illegally:  Travel by land, air or sea  Often accompanied (documents retained)

Transportation Trafficking routes will always reflect one consistent factor – victims will be routed to where the demand exists for their services, where the potential profit of their exploitation is the highest.

Exploitation Traffickers transport their victims for the sole purpose of personal gain, often either to make large amounts of money from their exploitation or to obtain free services or labor.

 Sexual exploitation (streets, bars, brothels, massage parlors, saunas, call-girl, escort agencies)  Forced labor (agriculture, fishery, construction, mines, sweatshops, catering)  Domestic servitude  Street begging or peddling  Forced military service  Organ removal  Removal of body parts (muti)  Children trafficked for adoption  Forced marriage

Remember - Not all trafficking occurs in the same way. The local context and specific situation will determine who is most at risk and how they are exploited.

UN Protocol Definition Article 3(a) of the UN Protocol: “Trafficking in Persons shall mean … the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons … by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person … for the purpose of exploitation. 3 Elements: Action… Means… Purpose …of exploitation

ActionMeansPurpose Recruitment OR Transportation OR Transfer OR Harbouring OR Receipt AND Force OR Coercion OR Abduction OR Fraud OR Giving Payments OR Deception AND Exploitation of Prostitution of Others OR Sexual Exploitation OR Forced Labour OR Slavery OR Removal of Organs

Child trafficking: Children are a special case  Trafficking in children can be defined as “the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring, or receipt of any person under 18 years of age for the purpose of exploitation.”  Trafficking in children differs from trafficking in adults in that means is irrelevant—only transportation and exploitation needs to be proved for a child to be trafficked.  Unlike adults, children can never voluntarily or willingly enter into an arrangement that results in trafficking, even if the parents give their consent. Therefore, all movement of children by another person for the purpose of exploitation constitutes trafficking, regardless of the means employed

How do traffickers control their victims?

 Physical imprisonment  Debt bondage  Removal of ID’s/passports and travel documentation  Threats of arrest, imprisonment or deportation  Isolation - linguistic and social  Use of violence and fear  Use of shame  Use and threat of reprisal against victims’ families  Use of Voodoo and Magic/Juju Rituals to frighten victims

What is Debt Bondage? During recruitment, a victim may agree to repay the trafficker a sum of money, usually to cover the costs of travelling to the foreign country where she has been promised a job. Later, once she has been transported to the destination country, the trafficker will force the victim to repay a far bigger sum of money than was originally agreed. He may, for example, exaggerate the sum of money that was paid for the victim’s travel and accommodation; simply increase her debt without any reason at all; or repeatedly fine her a sum of money for breaking rules that he has set for her. Once she begins to work, therefore, all the victim’s earnings go towards repaying what is owed to the trafficker, usually an ever- increasing amount of money. She may have little chance of being released until the full amount has been repaid. Traffickers frequently impose new debts on their victim whenever they like or may sell the victims to other traffickers who will demand the repayment of a new debt.

Myth?: All victims of trafficking are women and children

Fact: Much of the existing research on trafficking has found women and children to be the majority of victims. Most research, however, has focused on sexual exploitation. More research is needed on labor exploitation, where men are often more at risk to be trafficked

Myth?: Only uneducated, poor people are trafficked

Fact: Though some victims are vulnerable because they live in poverty, all types of people are trafficked. For example, in some parts of the world, highly educated women are at risk because there are few jobs available to them where they live and they seek out other opportunities

 Family members  Friends  Acquaintances (somebody who know somebody who can give you a nice job in South Africa)  Criminal gangs or syndicates  International organized crime groups

 Transport providers (taxi drivers, long distance truck drivers, bus drivers, sailors)  Professionals (individuals involved in adoption of babies, lawyers, health professionals)  Government officials (immigration, border police and other law enforcement agencies)

Gains  One of the most lucrative crimes in the world  Few risks for traffickers (lack of legislation, corruption, lack of law enforcement)  Low cost of doing business  Victims can be repeatedly exploited or sold

Smuggling a) “Smuggling of migrants” shall mean the procurement, in order to obtain, directly or indirectly, a financial or other material benefit, of the illegal entry of a person into a State Party of which the person is not a national or a permanent resident; (b) “Illegal entry” shall mean crossing borders without complying with the necessary requirements for legal entry into the receiving State;

3 DifferencesTraffickingSmuggling 1. How money is made Exploitation of victim in destination country Helping people cross borders illegally 2. The question of consent (agreement) Potential victim agrees to travel on basis of false information Client agrees to travel with full information about journey, destination and costs 3. Relationships  Trafficker-Victim  Smuggler-Client Trafficker-Victim Relationship continues in country of destination Smuggler-Client Relationship ends once border is crossed in country of destination

In Trafficking in Persons: Rarely advanced payment Deliberate and targeted recruitment of specific types of potential migrants Victims forced or deceived Intent of trafficker Danger to the victim (when)

Essential Elements of Trafficking Definition Activityrecruitment, transportation, transfer, receipt of persons Meansthreat or use of force or other forms of coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power or a position of vulnerability or giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person Purpose Financial profit through exploitation Each of the essential elements must be present and linked to each other to constitute a trafficking offence

Essential Elements of Smuggling Definition Activitytransportation and transfer of persons Meansno element of distortion of the free will of the person, either by force, deception or abuse of power. In most smuggling cases,the intending irregular migrants seek and initiate the contact with smugglers themselves to realize their objective of crossing the border into a third country illegally Purposefinancial profit from the illegal border crossing

Trends, Causes and Consequences

Myth?: Trafficking is only a problem in Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia

Fact: Trafficking occurs in all parts of the world. Globalization and the increasing inter-connectedness of the world have contributed to an increase in the occurrence of this transnational crime

Scale of the Problem  600,000 – 800,000 people are trafficked every year globally (US government, 2006)  Globally, 1 Million children trafficked annually (UNICEF)  32 Billion USD annual profit, comparable to narcotics trafficking (UNODC)  Trafficking in Persons is the 2 nd largest criminal activity in the world, following illegal drug sales, and just ahead of arms sales.

 Seduction, Sale & Slavery: Trafficking in Women and Children for Sexual Exploitation in Southern Africa (2003)  Breaking the Cycle of Vulnerability: Responding to the Health Needs of Trafficked Women in East & Southern Africa (2006)  No Experience Necessary: The Internal Trafficking of Persons in South Africa (2008)  Wolves in Sheep’s Skin: A Rapid Assessment of Human Trafficking in Musina, South Africa (2010) Research

IOM Research (May 2003) “Seduction, Sale & Slavery…”  South Africa is a source, transit and destination country.  South African women & girls trafficked internally and occasionally onward to Asian countries for sexual exploitation.  Chinese, Thai and Eastern European women are trafficked into S.A. for debt-bonded sexual exploitation.  Mozambique, Lesotho, Malawi as well as refugee producing countries e.g. Angola, Rwanda, DRC are source countries for women & children trafficked into S.A.  Men/ young boys from Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe are trafficked into S.A for agricultural labour.

 Victims most often reported to be black or coloured and under the age of 30  Victims most often reported to be recruited from rural areas or informal settlements are transported to urban centres  Boys under the age of 18 are increasingly lured into sexual exploitation, frequently for use in pornography  West African organized crime syndicates operate heavily in Pretoria, PE, Joburg and Bloemfontein and traffic local black South African females into commercial sexual exploitation.  Organized crime syndicates that are operated by foreign nationals use South Africans as recruiters  In respect to commercial sexual exploitation, women are just as likely to be recruiters as men  Men and boys are recruited to work on farms under false promises of pay and suitable accommodation. Boys who are not in school are more frequently targeted  Advertisements in newspapers have been used as a recruitment technique to deceive young women into the sex industry

 Evidence of trafficking for sexual exploitation, sexual slavery, labour exploitation, sale of illegal substances and goods, forced criminal activity, extortion and other forms of exploitation  Many migrants are at risk of being trafficked as they are uninformed of immigration procedures and are not aware of the dangers of traveling through non-border post crossings  The most at risk are victims of sexual and gender-based violence, women and girls involved in prostitution and transactional sexual behaviour and unaccompanied minors  Suspected trafficked persons are vulnerable to sexual and reproductive health problems, STIs including HIV, physical trauma, negative psycho-social reactions, malnutrition, and have limited access to health care

Root Causes of Trafficking in Persons  Poverty Globalization of poverty Lack of employment opportunities Social and political conflict Social and cultural practices Feminization of migration Gender discrimination Lack of information  Demand for inexpensive labor for sex services  Restrictive immigration policies

Consequences IndividualCommunities Abuse, coercion Increase of irregular migration Illegal status in country of destination Presence of criminal activities and organizations Treated as criminalsProblems of national security Risk/danger of death and serious diseases Violation of National legislation Difficult reintegration and stigmatization upon return Public Confidence

What crimes are committed by Traffickers? RecruitmentTransportationExploitationOther crimes Document Forgery ExtortionMoney Laundering Kidnapping / Abduction Violations of Immigration Law False imprisonment Tax Evasion FraudCorruption of OfficialsUnlawful coercionCorruption of officials Withholding Documents Violations of Immigration Law Other forms of organised criminal activities (e.g. drug smuggling) Sexual CrimesDocument Theft ViolenceAssault, Sexual Abuse and Rape Deliberate spread of HIV Torture and Death