Working in the Anti-Trafficking field has made me aware of a
problem that NGOs, as well as the South African Police Force, are facing in
combating Human Trafficking- a problem that may perhaps be solved by the
enactment of simple legislation. I will start by outlining the problem and
mentioning what the parameters for action are at the moment; and offer a
solution that may be implementable. Of course, this is just a sketch of the
idea and it would have to be handed over to people much more qualified and
capable than myself to actually stand a chance of being implemented; but have a
look and consider what a difference legislation such as this can make for women
who are trapped in a world of sexual exploitation.
When we think about the illegal sex industry- a few types of
businesses usually come to the forefront. Businesses that make profit from
enticing men’s sexual desire in a venue where his behaviour that may follow
will not be in the public eye. Now I’m not calling into question the legitimacy
of such businesses; but what I am saying is that in this position, the clients
of these businesses are very vulnerable to be enticed by the offer of sexual
services; and therefore it would be reasonable to deduce that in some cases
these businesses have given in to provide these services in a way that is
discrete and very profitable. This
deduction is supported by the frequent reports and complaints made against such
businesses by concerned members of the public. These reports have often
contained information about these businesses running illegal brothels; and in
some instances under-aged girls and women from foreign countries were suspected
to be working there. The two primary types of businesses that fit this
description in South Africa are strip clubs and sensual massage parlours. All though
there is no law against strip clubs or sensual massage parlours from recruiting
foreign workers (nor am I arguing that there should be) - situations such as
this have in the past been shown to accommodate girls and women who have been
trafficked.
Up until now, the procedure for dealing with these
situations would be for a member of the public issuing a complaint about the
suspected venue to SAPS; and once subsequent procedures have been followed,
SAPS then organise a raid of said venue. Now, in the time between the report
and the raid, there is a chance of the venue receiving a tip-off that the raid
is going to happen - giving the venue ample time to hide any illegal activities
or Trafficking victims. Unfortunately, this is the cycle that police have had
to go through with many specific venues- as they have received multiple
complaints and reports form concerned members of the public and have raided
said venues many times - finding nothing. Therefore, the apparent problem in
this situation is that there is no form of legal accountability that is
preventing strip clubs and sensual massage parlours from involving themselves
in forms of exploitation and the selling of sexual services. Now that I have
stated the problem, allow me to offer a solution.
There are many Anti-Trafficking awareness campaigns being
run in various areas and with various groups of focus. There are awareness
initiatives focussing on the most at risk in rural communities and urban
schools. However, there is an incredible lack of trafficking awareness in
places where sex trafficking is very likely to already be happening - strip clubs
and sensual massage parlours. Now, both of these types of business are
definitely legal and under as much pressure as any other business to comply
with the law. However, with the nature of this industry it is easy for such
businesses to conceal illegal activity - as these services need not be
publicly advertised and are only made available to clients upon request. If
one of these businesses is offering sexual services or is involved with
Trafficking In Persons, then the best way to solve this problem is to offer the
workers in these establishments training on how to identify abuse, exploitation
and Trafficking In Persons as well as
providing a direct and secure channel of reporting these injustices.
What this type of legislation could look like would be forcing
these establishments to place awareness material within the venue in clear view
of the workers in every primary language spoken by the workers (ie. if the
institution recruits a worker from Thailand, information must be provided to
that individual in Thai, clearly stating her rights and how to identify and
expose exploitation). Along with this information, a toll-free hotline number
must be clearly stated that the individual can call to report any illegal
activity. This legislation is simple and the cost that would be needed for it
to be implemented could be covered by each individual establishment itself as a
requirement to be given the right to legally do business (Much like the
requirements to trade liquor). The establishment will have to prove that they
provide this information to each of their workers. If they do not they may
suffer a heavy fine or have their trading licence revoked.
This awareness material would need to be certified by the
Department of Social Development and may also incorporate a mandatory bi-annual
inspection and training by the Department of Social Development or an
authorised NGO. A training such as that could provide workers with a
comprehensive understanding of how to identify exploitation, Trafficking In
Persons and a knowledge of their rights are. Putting such legislation in place
would serve to benefit legitimate strip clubs and sensual massage parlours- as
it would be in their interests to protect their workers and expose illegal
activity of competing businesses. It can therefore be assumed that if any of
these businesses were against such legislation, that they must see it as
negatively affecting their business which would only be able to be explained by
said business having to end all illegal activity that they would currently be
involved in.
Putting legislation such as this in place will by no means
be the end of the Human Trafficking problem, but it may however play a role in
decreasing the demand for trafficking victims. It will also give women that are
currently trapped in a world of sexual exploitation in strip clubs and sensual
massage parlours a chance for freedom and if we continue taking a series of
small steps such as this, Trafficking In Persons can become a thing of the
past.
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