Human trafficking: ‘We see it everyday and don’t realise it’ - Criminologist

Bongani Bingwa speaks with Bianca van Aswegen, Criminologist and National Coordinator at Missing children South Africa.

Listen to the interview in the audio below.

Human traffickers are thought to exploit more than 40 million victims every year.

This includes forced labour, sexual exploitation, servitude, organ harvesting and other horrendous treatment.

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When we think about human trafficking, we often picture images of slavery in the past.

However, a lot of trafficking is happening right before our eyes.

“We actually see it on a daily basis without realising we are seeing it.”

- Bianca van Aswegen, Criminologist and National Coordinator at Missing children South Africa

One example is ‘begging rings,’ where people are exploited and forced to beg for money.

There have been multiple cases of children being forced to beg and people do not realise they have been recruited by traffickers.

Other examples are brothels being run out of homes, and young men and boys being used as cheap labour on farms.

“It is things happening right under our noses, in our communities.”

- Bianca van Aswegen, Criminologist and National Coordinator at Missing children South Africa

One third of trafficking victims in South Africa are children, and our country is a major transit and destination point.

According to Van Aswegen, traffickers are using social media to target and exploit children.

Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the interview.