South Africa combats sex trade abuse ahead of 2010 World Cup

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By Martin Williams
09:55, November 23, 2009

South Africa's Crime Line organization has stepped up the fight against sex trade abuses known as "human trafficking" as the country gears up to host the 2010 FIFA World Cup, less than 200 days away.

"With 2010 around the corner, we must stop the abuse of women and children," said South African Crime Line Chief Executive Yusuf Abramjee in Johannesburg on Sunday.

Crime Line is a tip-off service where members of the public are encouraged to give the police information anonymously via cellphone text messages.

The anticipated surge in human trafficking during the 2010 FIFA World Cup has prompted a prevention drive by nongovernmental organizations and the police, who say they have already begun tracking possible traffickers.

Abramjee said the Crime Line special focus on human trafficking for the next two weeks would coincide with the annual 16 days of activism campaign against the abuse of women and children, which starts on Nov. 25 and runs until December 10.

"The theme for the 16-days campaign is: ‘Don't look away, Act against Abuse'. This is exactly what Crime Line is constantly urging," said Abramjee.

"Human trafficking is a growing problem worldwide. Women and children are constantly being exploited and abused. It's time to break our silence. If you have any information on human trafficking, send your tip-off to Crime Line now and the police will act."

"Many women and children are also been drawn into prostitution by organized crime syndicates. Let's get the leaders of these syndicates arrested," said Abramjee.

"We encourage the public to continue passing on general information but are zooming-in on human trafficking for the next two weeks. It's no secret that human trafficking increases around big event. And we have FIFA 2010 coming up."

Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa said last week (November 19) "We need to strengthen the partnership between the police, the public and the media. The Crime Line initiative is a good example of how – if we all work together – we can win."

"Since the launch of Crime Line in June 2007, 853 suspected criminals have been arrested and R32,1 million worth of stolen property, drugs and counterfeit goods has been seized by the SA Police Service," said the minister.

"We are pleased to see more and more members of the public blowing the whistle on crime. We urge them to continue using the Crime Line", the minister said.

"We know who does wrong in our communities – whether they are murderers, rapists, drug dealers, or peddlers, cash heist gangs, fraudsters, buyers of stolen goods, hijackers or robbers, don't protect them."

"The war against criminals needs to be intensified. We will therefore not retreat from our tough stance neither will we be distracted. We will search and find them, if they go to the sea, we will dive in. If they hide in the bushes, we will be offensive in our approach. All these approaches will be policy-driven and within the ambits of the law. This is a re-affirmation we are giving to South Africans," the minister added.

South Africa has recently launched a Red Light 2010 campaign in Johannesburg. The initiative was spearheaded by Johannesburg Child Welfare, together with two local NGOs, the Southern African Network on Trafficking and Abuse of Children and Women Leadership in Southern Africa, a gender-based organization in the Southern African Development Community region.

Child Welfare's assistant director Carol Bews said: "During 2010, there will be a lot of visitors coming to our country. With so many people in South Africa, we will see women and children being trafficked. This campaign intends to give people knowledge about how trafficking happens."

"At this point, the traffickers are probably well in place yet we have not yet got our activities together," Bews said.

The Red Light campaign came in the wake of the 2009 Trafficking in Persons Report which recommended that South Africa "address demand for commercial sex acts and protect children from commercial sexual exploitation in advance of the 2010 World Cup".

Johannesburg, South Africa's biggest city, is the capital of Gauteng province. At the Red Light 2010 launch, Kate Mocheki, a social worker at the Gauteng Children's Rights Committee, said the lack of awareness within communities was problematic.

"Crime statistics do not reflect human trafficking as it is not often reported because communities do not understand the nature of the crime," she said.

"There is no understanding of what human trafficking is, hence it is not yet seen as a crime. Yet human trafficking is a growing trend in South Africa," she said.　

Source: Xinhua

http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90779/90871/6820607.html

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