I am back in Joburg and its now time for a new adventure in my own backyard. It is good to be home and
reconnect with family and friends and I’m excited to see where this new
season is taking me. 2014 got off to a good start as I connected with Two
Anti-Trafficking NGOs up here who are doing pretty exciting things! They have
welcomed me on board to assist with projects and outreaches. The National
Freedom Network is an NGO that focuses on making sure the anti-trafficking
force throughout South Africa works together to be as effective as possible.
What I like most about the NFN is that it is very critical of the HT problem
and the way it is being tackled; and is constantly analysing the efforts currently
being made across the board- identifying parts of the trafficking process which
are not being adequately dealt with and loopholes that are being formed as
different NGOs, prosecutors and SAPs refine their focus to specific areas.
This critical approach has created room for me to help in
rather significant ways- In the following few months I am going to be
partnering with the NFN to develop two very vital trainings that will
drastically improve the way that HT is combated in our city. The first one will
be comprehensive police training on the new Trafficking In Persons (TIP) bill
that was passed last year. This training will focus on training every police
station on the policies and procedures to adhere to when dealing with
trafficking cases. This training will ensure that the victim’s case is treated
with urgency, respect and dignity and is not victimised a second time. It will
ensure that SAPs will follow the correct procedure when building a case against
a trafficker, which will maximise the chances of successful prosecution.
The second training that we will be developing is training
for the house mothers of the Safe Houses. Many safe houses in South Africa are
multipurpose- meaning that they house people who have been victims of a variety
of crimes- from domestic violence to trafficking. This will change after the
TIP bill is successfully implemented however, but with that change will not
come the solution to this problem. The problem is that there is no official
training given to the house mothers of these safe-houses on how to deal with
trafficking victims in a way that makes them feel safe, welcome, and excited
for the bright future they hold.
Trafficking victims, by the nature of the crime, have been
sourced from all over the world, speak languages that are foreign to South
Africans and are from cultures that are completely unfamiliar to those working
in the safe-houses. This makes interaction between the house mothers and
victims awkward and unwelcoming, creating animosity on both the sides of the
victim and the house mother. Therefore, the house mothers need to be trained in
what is appropriate to do in cultures that victims are commonly from as well as
give them basic tools for inter-linguistic communication with foreign victims.
This training will dramatically improve the safe house experience for the
victim and will decrease the chance of the victim running away.
Now on a practical side, the other NGO that I will be
working with is a very proactive group called Awaken SA. This ambitious group
do intervention work- meaning that they get on to the streets; speak to women
in prostitution, visit strip clubs and brothels and report any cases of
trafficking, abuse or exploitation that they find. From what I've seen, doing
grassroots work makes fighting this problem so much more personal and reignites
your heart to want to fight for the fair treatment and retribution of these
women. With this type of work anyone can
volunteer and get involved, as the stronger our team is, the more women we can
reach and the more potential rescues we can make.
These projects are only some of the plans I have for this
year and I’m expectant that many other opportunities to help will open up. I
really have had an amazing privilege to be connected with the incredible people that I have met and worked with this year, as they have shown me what making a
difference actually looks like. It’s a wonderful balance to be working on
training and policy level as well as grassroots here in Joburg and there such incredible
value in both sides of the scale and to work with people whose passion is so contagious.
So if you are
interested in helping me with any of these projects by volunteering some of
your time or supporting me while I volunteer mine, please contact me at kirstenhornby@justiceacts.org.
Together we can end it.
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