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- A report has revealed that children are among the biggest human trafficking targets.
- International consultant and University of the Free State researcher, Marcel van der Watt warned that social media was fast becoming a tool used to lure unsuspecting victims.
- Journalist and researcher Uveka Rangappa added that job losses during the Covid-19 pandemic also made people more vulnerable.
Children are among the biggest human trafficking targets for organ harvesting, illegal mining, child labour, and the sex trade.
This is according to international consultant and research fellow at the University of the Free State, Marcel van der Watt, and journalist and researcher, Uveka Rangappa, who presented the human trafficking report, compiled between 2020 and 2022, on Tuesday.
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Van der Watt said technology and social media use contributed to a huge chunk of human trafficking cases.
"Social media is a big net where people meet and engage, and jobs are offered to unsuspecting victims. Technology plays an increasingly major role in recruitment and exploitation," he said.
Rangappa added that the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, which led to thousands of job losses, would likely drive the increase in human trafficking.
She said:
The pair added that human trafficking was perpetrated by locals, foreign nationals, men, women, strangers, and people known to victims, including their families.
According to Rangappa, poverty and desperation had driven some parents to sell their children's virginity for as little as R50.
"Anybody can be a perpetrator. There is no specific profile... What we know is who the sex buyers are, the people who use these services whether for commercial sex or labour, and that is everyday South Africans," Van der Watt added.
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He said victims and survivors suffered from depression and resorted to suicide.
Among the recommendations to combat human trafficking are reporting cases through the national human trafficking hotline, as well as the regular release of human trafficking and missing person reports.
