The demand for exploitative services involving children is increasing, from sexual exploitation, domestic slavery, child marriage, recruitment into armed groups, forced begging, and criminal activities.

This was revealed in the report presented to the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council, warning about the alarming increase in trafficking in children.

According to the report, presented by the special representative of the UN secretary-general on violence against children, Dr Najat Maalla M’jid, children make up almost four in 10 victims of trafficking worldwide.

Maalla M’jid said that children, mainly girls, are increasingly vulnerable, as poverty, food insecurity, humanitarian crisis, and conflict lead to displacement and violence, which are among the main drivers of illegal trafficking.

She said child trafficking remains a low-cost and low-risk, yet high-profits crime, generating billions of dollars annually.

“Conviction for trafficking in children remains low and perpetrators continue to enjoy impunity, corruption, stigma, fear, and the lack of protection limits children's ability to report and seek justice,” she said, warning that trafficking networks are growing alarmingly and are increasingly well organised, and use artificial intelligence to lower their overheads and reduce the likelihood of detection.

Human trafficking is one of the world’s most shameful crimes and one which robs people of their dignity and basic rights.

This is an illicit market that affects millions of victims worldwide each year, with traffickers raking in an estimated $32 billion annually, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

Last month, seven Chinese nationals and their company Beautiful City (Pty) Ltd, based in Village Deep in Johannesburg, were found guilty of kidnapping, trafficking, and forced labour of 91 Malawian nationals - 37 of them children, by the Gauteng South Division Court in Johannesburg.

The seven criminals were arrested in November 2019 in a joint operation carried out at their premises. They were arrested during the joint inspection blitz carried out by the Department of Employment and Labour's Inspection and Enforcement Services (IES) branch together with the South African Police Service (SAPS), the Hawks Unit, and the Department of Home Affairs.

The 2019 Global Slavery Index estimated that approximately 155 000 people live in modern slavery in South Africa.

World Hope South Africa further estimates that South Africa has approximately 30 000 children in the sex work industry, half of whom are younger than 14 years old, and that the majority are trafficked children to Gauteng and the Western Cape provinces.

In April 2019, the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (DoJ&CD), in collaboration with UNODC, launched the National Policy Framework (NPF), seeking to ensure all government departments and other engaged stakeholders from civil society were collectively guided in the implementation of anti-trafficking responses and their statutory responsibilities.

In particular, the NPF intended to support the implementation of the Prevention and Combating of Trafficking in Person, 2013 (Act No 7 of 2013), which aims to ensure that the criminal justice system was effective in prosecuting criminals and protecting the victims of trafficking, promoting a cooperative and aligned response among all government departments, as well as with civil society organisations engaged in assisting and supporting the victims.

According to the 2024 Trafficking in Persons Report: South Africa - by the US Department of State, although the government is making significant efforts to eliminate trafficking, it does not meet the minimum standards.

The report stated that agencies responsible for identifying, referring, and certifying trafficking victims lacked coordination, and knowledge gaps in understanding human trafficking and referral standard operating procedures likely hindered overall protection efforts. Victim services remained insufficient and delays in granting victims official status resulted in some victims being unable to access timely emergency shelter and services.

The report also added that law enforcement continued to lack the necessary capacity and training to effectively identify and refer trafficking victims to care.

DoJ&CD ministerial spokesperson Terrence Manase said South Africa remains vulnerable to trafficking, with around 30% of victims being children.

Manase said awareness campaigns educate them on warning signs, and court statistics indicate a decline in recorded child victims from 73 in 2022-23, 64 in 2023-24, to 56 in 2024-25.

He said the NPF was revised in 2023, approved by Cabinet, and tabled before Parliament.

“Workshops were held to promote the revised framework, align provincial action plans, and address challenges, strengthening collaboration between government and civil society,” he said.

Department of Social Development (DSD) spokesperson Nomfundo Xulu-Lentsoane said South Africa was indeed a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to trafficking for forced labour and sexual exploitation.

She said while the DoJ&CD continues to lead the coordination of activities in the implementation of the Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Act, the department plays a supportive role and is one of the active members of the National Intersectoral Committee on Trafficking in Persons (NICTIP), which is co-chaired by both the DoJ&CD and the National Prosecuting Authority.

She said the mandate of the DSD in the implementation of the Act and the NPF is to provide protection, care, support, and healing to victims of trafficking, adding that this was also in line with Pillar 4 of the National Strategic Plan on gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) support victims who are admitted in shelters for victims of trafficking and those who are re-integrated back into their families and communities.

Xulu-Lentsoane added that DSD's role in combating child trafficking is directly linked to its mandate of ensuring the care and protection of children, protecting them from abuse, neglect, maltreatment, degradation, and exploitation.

manyane.manyane@inl.co.za

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UN warns about child trafficking crisis that's escalating globally