GLOBAL SEX TRAFFICKING:
PART I – AFRICA
By Trevor K. McNeil
As Common As Sunshine
Sex trafficking is one of the most common and lucrative criminal enterprises. Sex trafficking is second only to narcotics trafficking in profit. It is no accident that the two take on similar attributes in terms of root causes and methods. One of the regions worst affected by sex trafficking, particularly involving children, is Africa.
A Matter Of Scope
It can be tempting to think of Africa as a sort of amorphous mass. There are even those in the present day who still mistake it for a country rather that a continent made up of 54 independent member nations. That said, one of the things common to nearly all of them is the tragedy of sex trafficking. International statistics show that 89% of African nations are challenged by the issue.
Economies Of Scale
The most obvious cause for sex trafficking in Africa is severe poverty in many of the member nations. Poverty is a reason both for the traffickers and those who give either themselves, or their children to the trade. At least in cases where choice is involved. The economic situation so dire in many member nations that even a relatively small amount of cash can be enough to induce someone with no previous inclination to get involved in sex trafficking.
Demand
Another major cause in all cases of sex trafficking and particularly on the African continent is supply and demand. A situation created in part by a large population of economically depressed people, combined with fear over the AIDS crisis, and shortage of females. There is a shortage of available women in many countries. This is due to the strong cultural preference for sons, leading to an imbalance of the genders. Similar to imbalances found in China and other Asian countries.
Risks
Sex trafficking is a relatively low risk activity for the traffickers. Even in nations in which it is expressly illegal, this can also often be gotten around though the judicious careful use of bribes. It is no secret that many African governments suffer from core corruption. A fact which traffickers use to their advantage.
Effects
The physical and psychological effects on the victims is devastating. Sex slaves will often commit suicide to escape another day of rape and abuse. There are other, not so visible effects of the corruption that supports human trafficking such as funneling money into criminal gangs, making their syndicates more sophisticated, better able to payoff officials and better arm their private armies if things ever get nasty. Corruption this deep can have a devastating effect on the security and prosperity of a nation.
Health
Sex trafficking also has severe implications for the AIDS crisis. Sub-Saharan Africa has one of the highest AIDS/HIV infection rates in the world. The World Health Organization estimates of the 40.3 million people living in the sub-Saharan region, roughly 10% of the overall African population, 17.5 million of the females have either HIV or AIDS. The widespread issue of sex trafficking combined with a documented lack of access to condoms only exacerbates the problem.
Demographics
The majority of those victimized by sex trafficking in Africa are women and young girls. A fact ascribed by a United Nations report to a general lack of rights and political protection in many nations. There is a particular demand for young girls for so-called “child brides”. Little girls as young as 9 years old are forced to marry and sleep with fully grown men.
Brutal Logic
The reasoning behind this being brutally logical. It’s not that there are more pedophiles in sub-Saharan Africa than anywhere else, but fear of HIV/AIDS . Males who haven’t shown any particular interest in children before prefer “child brides, in the belief they will be free of AIDS. This is because young girls are more likely to be virgins and free from sexually transmitted disease. Sex trafficking is rampant among this vulnerable group.
Sex Trafficking And War Crimes
Rape is a consequence of war. Africa is in tumult. Regions of the continent have been in some form of armed conflict for decades. What is less known is what happens to the victims in the wake of continued violence and instability. People not killed are taken into sex trafficking, or inducted into army service. Many women and girls are used to service the soldiers until they are discarded and trafficked into the international sex trade.
Lies
Another way women and girls are drawn in to sex trafficking in Africa is with out right lies. Usually the promise is a job as a domestic in Europe or North America. Sadly, the job usually turns out to be that of a concubine. This practice is common in Ethiopia, one of the more economically desperate of the East African nations. Men calling themselves “labor brokers” offer work in the EU to poverty-stricken girls and women. Once a woman agrees to the job they are often sent instead to the Middle East. Once there, their passports are confiscated if they have one, and then they are forced to do heavy and demanding physical labor while also being coerced to have sex with every male member in the family. Suicide is once again a common escape taken by these young victims.
Mine Wives
Another lurid activity of sex traffickers is providing “Mine Wives”. This practice is most common in rural South Africa. Traffickers smuggle girls and women across the border from Mozambique to service the workers and managers in the lucrative and isolated diamond mines. Traffickers illicitly sneak their cargo directly into the mines, in the backs of mining trucks. Official guides for the mining company will go with the caravan to avoid suspicion. When problems develop the conspirators use bribes.
Intercontinental Sex Trafficking
South Africa is a known destination for women caught in sex trafficking. Victims from as far afield as Thailand and Russia are ending up in South African brothels. Again, children are not safe. Among the worst instances of both sex trafficking and child rape being the orgies with virgin girls between the ages of 10 and 14 by members of South Africa’s Free State farmers and high-ranking businessmen.
Sex Tourism
South Africa is also one of the worst nations in the world for sex tourism. As in earlier cases, the largest demand in the South African sex tourism trade is young, virgin girls. There are an estimated 28,000 to 30,000 girls roughly half of them between the ages of 10 and 14 in the domestic forced sex trade. Being sexually exploited by men who go there specifically to do so, many are from North America. A horrific situation enabled by a strong and elaborate criminal network, an enabling political sector, and a corrupt police force.
Sources:
https://www.unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000143227
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/237769872_an_overview_of_human_trafficking_in_sub-saharan_africa
