State as pimp: sexual slavery in South Africa

Abstract

The disturbing prevalence of sexual slavery in South Africa is variously attributed to extreme poverty, unemployment, war, lack of food, and traditional practices that make it acceptable to treat women as commodities. Such 'causes' are better understood as enabling conditions. The demand for sex workers, organised criminal syndicates and the failure of legal imagination are the real drivers of the South African market. The authors address this failure of legal imagination and suggest how the constitutional prohibition against slavery can be used to develop a legal doctrine of sexual slavery, as well as on appropriate set of remedies, that will assist the State in its efforts to eradicate sexual trafficking.

Experiences of sex trafficking victims in Mumbai, India

“…Current findings underline the role of poverty in the sex trafficking of South Asian women and girls, with over half reporting being lured by traffickers through promises of economic opportunity. The predisposing factor of poverty has been previously highlighted regarding trafficking both within South Asia and in other regions worldwide [19,22–24]. This study also highlights the role of violence in sex trafficking, with one quarter of victims reporting being kidnapped via drugs or force.…”

Life Histories and Survival Strategies Amongst Sexually Trafficked Girls in Nepal

“…Current findings underline the role of poverty in the sex trafficking of Nepali girls, with over half reporting being lured by traffickers through promises of economic opportunity. The predisposing factor of poverty has been previously highlighted regarding trafficking both within South Asia and in other regions worldwide (Huda, 2006;Okonofua et al, 2004;Woolman and Bishop, 2006). At the local level, trafficking stems from deep-rooted processes of gender discrimination, a lack of female education, the ignorance and naïveté of rural populations, poverty and lack of economic opportunities in rural areas with the consequent marginalisation of particular social groups.…”

Awareness of sexual trafficking and associated factors among youth females in debre birhan town, north shewa, Ethiopia, 2017

“…[26][27][28] Similarly, a cross sectional study conducted in Nigeria showed that 97.4% of the women reported that they had heard of women being taken abroad for commercial sex work. 29 This discrepancy may be due to the implementation of sexual trafficking prevention interventions, as well as cross-cultural variation. Regarding the source of information, the youth females stated television (56.6%), radio (56.0%) and friends (22.2%) as sources of information in this study whereas in the Bahir Dar study the youth females mentioned television (64%), friends (46%) and radio (37%) as sources of information.…”

“…Still, many women and young girls want to go abroad without knowing the situations there. 4,28 There are also some studies conducted by individual researchers on human trafficking in Ethiopia, [29][30][31][32][33] Most of these studies are highly concerned on the investigation of the challenges, prospects, and different kinds of right violations that Ethiopian domestic workers experience in the Arab Middle East. However, during this time, there is no enough research on youth females' awareness about sex trafficking in the study area as well as in Ethiopia.…”