the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs.
I will talk mainly from the sexual exploitation angle and please note that this includes boys and girls, men and women!!!!
Our neighbourhood watch on our situation has uncovered that these girls (Thai, Taiwanese or Chinese) forgive my ignorance in not knowing their actual nationality – do not leave this house and as cars visit all day and all hours of night these girls have to be available!!
Prostitution is illegal in this country but we all know it IS the oldest profession in the book!! Although we would love to know that it does not happen… Who are we kidding!!
If that woman or man you are visiting is free to decide when to work or not and they are free to choose to have a night off or not then it is probably not human trafficking but a choice to be a prostitute!!
However if you are visiting a house or environment (lap dancing club) where the girls or boys never leave or are driven home to a owners house and back to work the next day then you are part of and condoning some form of human trafficking with out even realising it.
The other day a whole lot of matrics went to a certain lap dancing club in Durban. Hey its young boys and they are only having fun after their trial exams….but…. we need to ask ourselves the question? Are these girls they were fraternising with, free to catch a cab home at night or are they driven to the owners house were they sleep and then bought back to the club the next day!! Does someone control their movements!! As a parent would you be happy knowing that your sons ‘innocent’ night out was actually in the greater scheme of things part of a human trafficking organisation.
Most these girls and boys are drugged and given alcohol to numb their feelings. If they cause trouble they are discarded or moved to other jobs in the chain of happenings and it’s almost impossible to get any evidence. The people who frequent these places don’t talk. The girls are shipped back to their countries so they can’t give evidence and the owners are linked to the best lawyers in town who will find any loophole to get their clients off the hook.
I phoned the eThekwini municipality the other day to see what they would do about a normal prostitution situation. I told them I had some evidence from the visitors. (Our neighbourhood watch are very busy!!!) I was told you cannot use the evidence from any visitor in court, but we will go in and arrest the girls. Now isn’t that ridiculous!!! Prostitution is illegal but not for those visiting the institution. It is only for those performing the acts!!!!
The owners of these placers have got very sophisticated and you with partners out there would be shocked to know that the choice is made from a photo line up on the cell phone. Payment is often made somewhere down the road so no money changes hands on the actual premises. Drugs are involved but drive by exchanges happen so no evidense can be found. All a raid will actually uncover is the sexy red underwear, the drawn red curtains in the middle of the day or night and red sheets and blankets!!!
Some of you might have watched the movie ‘TAKEN’ or seen the many documentaries on the subject. It does not only happen only in other countries but right here in South Africa. It was not a World cup thing and now it’s all gone away….It is still happening and there are parents around the world who have no idea what their young sons and daughters are subjected to. One day this could happen to your children….
Please be aware, be vigilant and above all don’t be quiet!!!
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