Prof Carol Allais and Dr Zac Kotzé, a lecturer in the Department of Old Testament and Ancient Near Eastern, with a relevant front page article in The Star on the day of Prof Allais’s presentation |
Gripped by the horrendous facts of child trafficking worldwide, the shocked audience at the Senate Hall was spellbound by the presentation of Prof Carol Allais, the Head of the Department of Sociology, on this topic recently. Trafficking in people and people smuggling have become the third largest source of profit after drugs and arms, with the global value of human trafficking estimated to be US$12 billion annually. Prof Allais says that “trading in goods has now changed to trading in ‘bads’”.
The number of working children around the world remains elusive. Because it is often illegal and clandestine, child labour lies beyond the reach of conventional demographic or labour statistics. Although it is difficult to obtain accurate figures, estimates show that between 700 000 and four million are being trafficked each year, with the majority of those women and children, of which 34% are under the age of 18.
Even though children are trafficked into a variety of exploitative situations, including armed conflict, hazardous forms of work, criminal activities (e.g. drug couriers), as well as forced marriages, it is the sexual exploitation of children that is the predominant form of trafficking. This includes prostitution, pornography and paedophile rings.
Need to curb sex trafficking of children during 2010 World Cup
Prof Allais says that lobbying government to adopt measures to curb sex trafficking of children during the 2010 FIFA World Cup is proving a mammoth task. She calls upon everyone who cares to start raising their voices and to spread the message that this should receive the same attention as safety and security measurements and prevention mechanisms. |
