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Government is currently hosting their annual Trafficking in Persons (TiP) seminar in Johannesburg, where experts and stakeholders from various entities have gathered to discuss and work on fighting the crime.
Trafficking in Persons, often referred to as human trafficking, is a serious and widespread criminal phenomenon involving the exploitation of individuals for various purposes, primarily forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation.
The two day conference is held under the theme, “Reach every victim of trafficking and leave no one behind”.
On the first day, Researchers, community groups, social workers and state officials engaged on ways to respond to matters related to trafficking in persons that continue to devastate Gauteng Province.
Social Development TiP Provincial Co-Ordinator Takalani Sekoba delivered the report from last year’s TiP Seminar said that the conference attracted over a hundred stakeholders both local and international, who attended and made concrete resolutions that are used as a basis for this year’s gathering.
Sekoba explained how South Africa is a country of origin, transit and destination.
Victims (mostly women and children) are usually taken from rural areas and informal settlements and are taken to urban areas like Johannesburg, Durban etc. where they will be exploited in many forms including working as domestic servants or sex workers.
She also introduced the TiP Ambassadors who are based across all five regions in the province.
Buti Khulwane from the Department of Social Development unpacked the current status of Trafficking in Persons in the country and how the State is working on interventions.
South African is classified as a Tier 2 – meaning that the country does not fully meet the standards for the elimination of Trafficking in Persons (TiP).
According to Khulwane, countries are assessed by the US on their efforts to curb TiP in terms of a four-tier system.
This means victims are trafficked from South Africa to other countries; foreign victims are moved through the country to other areas for exploitation, while foreign victims are brought into the country as their destination.
