Citation

Ramokolo KP, Thobane MS. Acta Criminol. 2021; 34(3): 45-64.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, Criminological Society of South Africa)

DOI

10.10520/ejc-crim_v34_n3_a4

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Trafficked children suffer unbearable pain since, while being trafficked, they become victims of sexual exploitation; forced labour; drug dependence; street vending; and various criminal activities. Victims are removed from social support networks, such as their families and communities, and they lose control over their lives. They are ill-treated, assaulted, raped and subjected to inhumane conditions by their captors. Part of this article has been extracted from a more comprehensive research project conducted between June 2017 and February 2018, with the aim of exploring the support services offered to victims of child trafficking. A qualitative research approach was followed, where 30 subject matter experts (SMEs) were interviewed face-to-face. The SMEs in this research study reported that, in South Africa, victims of child trafficking have very few resources available to assist them with their specialised needs. The major challenges raised were: victim identification and rescue difficulties; lack of specific shelters for victims of child trafficking; lack of tailor-made or suitable programmes; as well as difficulties experienced when domestic victims are being reunited with their families or during the repatriation of cross-border victims. In view of the aforementioned challenges, the aim of this article is, through the study of literature synthesised with the findings from the 30 SMEs, to explore the challenges presented by COVID-19 on the already ineffective support services for victims of child trafficking in South Africa, specifically in the Gauteng Province. Governments across the world, in response to the rapid spread of COVID-19, pronounced drastic measures, such as national lockdowns, to assist countries in responding as comprehensively as possible to the pandemic. However, measures adopted by governments to curb the spread of the COVID-19 have negatively affected most members of the global society, including the most vulnerable, such as victims of child trafficking.

Keywords: Human trafficking;

Language: en

Keywords

child trafficking victims; COVID-19 pandemic; Human trafficking; victim support