The Star E-dition

Vigilance against trafficking

STAFF REPORTER

THE Salvation Army has expressed its deep concern at an apparent spike in instances of human trafficking being brought to its attention over the past three months.

Captain Juanita Wright, The Salvation Army’s anti-human trafficking co-ordinator, says the church is experiencing ongoing calls for help about human trafficking.

She says that The Salvation Army’s helpline is receiving up to a dozen calls every week, 80% of which are related to human trafficking.

“We believe that many of the calls for help involve people who have been tricked into human trafficking situations as a result of the difficult economic circumstances which South Africa is experiencing.

“We appeal to people to be much more vigilant about human trafficking.

“It is real and it is happening in our society to people of all ages.

“If an offer of employment sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

“There are far too many people in our communities who don’t really believe that human trafficking is happening, or that it can happen to them or their families,” Wright says.

Information that is received from calls to The Salvation Army’s helpline is directed to one of its network partners for follow-up and investigation.

Calls can also be directed to the national hotline number 0800 737 28.

“People most vulnerable to human trafficking are children, teenagers, young women, refugees, job seekers and people living on the street. These people are preyed upon in various ways and subsequently held against their will,” Wright said.

People are trafficked for:

Labour exploitation/slave labour. This includes offers of jobs such as au pair, hairdressing, modelling and hotel work. Prostitution and sexual slavery (not paid). Forced marriage and harvesting of body organs for sale once the trafficked victim has been killed.

Wright offers the following guidelines for members of the public:

Tell your friends and neighbours how to protect themselves.

Learn to recognise trafficked persons – they are often unable to speak the local language.

They appear to be trapped in their job or the place they stay.

They may have bruises and other signs of physical abuse.

They do not have identification documents.

Report places where you suspect trafficked people are kept (for example.

Report people you suspect may be traffickers to authorities.

METRO

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2021-06-17T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-06-17T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://thestar.pressreader.com/article/281625308255729

African News Agency