Johannesburg – Often young rural women are soft targets for sex trafficking, according to a University of Limpopo academic and criminologist Dr Witness Maluleke.
“Some of them are either never found, trafficked or found deceased. Women and children, from 10 years old specifically, are often recruited from poor developing countries [we are not an exception] and/or rural areas to be exploited to sex trafficking locally, and in urban cities such as Joburg, Cape Town, Durban and Bloemfontein,” said Maluleke.
He said that the government did not have the capacity to eliminate the trafficking of women who are homeless and used as sex slaves, noting that police and Home Affairs were working in isolation.
“The legislative framework is ineffective as the government did not promulgate implementing regulations for the Prevention and Combating of Trafficking in Persons Act (No 7 of 2013), which amends various acts.
“Often, they do not act on reported cases. The traffickers should be properly investigated for effective strict prosecutions and awarding of heavy sentences.
“Rife corruption in the South African criminal justice system remains a significant obstacle.
“Witnesses are not protected, the shelters to house victims are in disarray, rehabilitation centres are not properly managed.”
He said sex trafficking kingpins often lured their victims on social media, targeting mostly rural and township women who they forced into commercial sex and drug smuggling.
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