South Africa Fast Tracks Trafficking Law to Prep for World Cup

The World Cup is starting in South Africa in just a few short months, and no one knows how much human trafficking will accompany it. Will there be up to 20,000 victims trafficked in for the event, as some groups have predicted? Or will additional trafficking be minimal, as others have claimed. One thing is for sure -- no matter how prevalent human trafficking is during the World Cup, no one will be able to stop it without good laws preventing the practice.

Human trafficking has been illegal in South Africa for some time, but the laws against it are disjointed and messy. Legal experts in the country have been pushing since 2003 to redraft the legislation in ways that will allow more prosecutions of traffickers to take place. Under the current laws, human trafficking and forced prostitution crimes can only be prosecuted in very specific circumstances. The burdens on the prosecution are so high, that successful convictions of human traffickers in South Africa are far below what they should be. The bill would give South African courts extra-territorial jurisdiction to prosecute acts outside its borders and obliges Internet providers to report suspect activity and addresses.

The speculations about the amount of trafficking that will be taking place at the World Cup are wide-ranging. Some groups have predicted that huge number of local and regional children will be brought in for sexual exploitation, and that women will both travel voluntarily and be forced to travel to South Africa for prostitution. Other groups have been concerned that traffickers will take advantage of the perception that South Africa will be ripe with job opportunities. Men and women looking for jobs in South Africa may end up being enslaved there or elsewhere.

Still, other organizations claim that the high predictions of human trafficking are over-hyped, and that any bump would be modest, at best. They think any migration to South Africa for prostitution or work will be done by voluntary adults, and that human trafficking cases will not increase significantly above the average number of cases South Africa has. But whether there is one case or 1000 cases, there can't be justice for victims until there is a law which can hold their abusers accountable.

The new bill is being fast-tracked through parliament, in the hopes that it will go into effect next month. That would give the police and courts a couple months with the new law on the books and under their belts before the chaos of the World Cup ensues. The bill's supporters hope that whatever the number of men, women, or children trafficked in South Africa during the World Cup, this new law will reduce it.

You can help push for South Africa to pass the human trafficking law by sending a letter to the U.S. government here, started by my friend and fellow blogger Sarah.

Photo credit: Nina Matthews