Sex trafficking stretches across Southern Africa.Young South African women are being given false job offers to lure them into prostitution in Macau, a former Portuguese colony now under Chinese control. Women from rural China, many of them poorly educated, are being brought to South Africa South Africa, Afrikaans Suid-Afrika, officially Republic of South Africa, republic (2005 est. pop. 44,344,000), 471,442 sq mi (1,221,037 sq km), S Africa. for the same purpose. These were some of the issues raised by the meeting 'Next Steps to Path Breaking Strategies in the Global Fight Against Sex Trafficking in South Africa', held in Johannesburg in June. Addressing delegates, Linda Smith--founder of the War Against Trafficking Alliance--described the ways in which the trafficking of women has become a global phenomenon. "We found girls from South Africa working in brothels BROTHELS, crim. law. Bawdy-houses, the common habitations of prostitutes; such places have always been deemed common nuisances in the United States, and the keepers of them may be fined and imprisoned. 2. in the Netherlands. We also found girls from Thailand in South Africa. The traffickers don't care. What they care about is money." The International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) estimates that trafficking earns as much as 19 billion dollars annually. Women from other countries are flown to Johannesburg, and then taken to Swaziland, Lesotho or Mozambique. They then cross the border back into South Africa--all this in a bid to avoid airport immigration immigration, entrance of a person (an alien) into a new country for the purpose of establishing permanent residence. Motives for immigration, like those for migration generally, are often economic, although religious or political factors may be very important. controls. Upon arrival, their passports are taken away and they are informed that they must pay off a debt of between 12,000 and 15,000 dollars. Threats of physical violence are frequently translated into action against those who disobey dis·o·bey v. dis·o·beyed, dis·o·bey·ing, dis·o·beys v.intr. To refuse or fail to follow an order or rule. v.tr. To refuse or fail to obey (an order or rule). their captors. According to the Pretoriabased Institute for Security Studies, as many as 500 organised crime groups operate in South Africa. These include Nigerian gangs that operate mainly in Malawi, Zambia and South Africa. Such gangs also traffic Mozambican women to South Africa, where they are sold as "wives" to people who work on the mines near Johannesburg. Effectively, the women become sex slaves for those who buy them, also providing unpaid domestic labour. In addition, children find themselves caught up in the trade. Children's rights The opportunity for children to participate in political and legal decisions that affect them; in a broad sense, the rights of children to live free from hunger, abuse, neglect, and other inhumane conditions. groups like the Cape Town-based Molo Songolo estimate that 28,000 children engage in prostitution in South Africa--and that 25 percent of prostitutes in Cape Town are children. About 5,000 young boys and girls boys and girls mercurialisannua. are said to cater to foreign tourists in the city alone. Source: Inter Press Service Inter Press Service (abbreviated: IPS) is a global news agency. Its main focus is the production of independent news and analysis about events and processes affecting economic, social and political development. , 23 June 2004 |
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