Human Trafficking In South Africa And The United States

Do you know what human trafficking is? Human trafficking is the illegal movement of human beings usually for purposes of forced labor or commercial sexual exploitation. In case you did not know human trafficking is one of the hardest crimes to track. Human trafficking is a global issue that interconnected with different countries around the world. I’ll be analyzing specifically South Africa and the United States to analyze how they both tackle the issue of human trafficking. While discussing human trafficking on each country, I will also look at each country’s economy and touch on some history. My perspective on how I would combat human trafficking will be given as well.
South Africa is the most southern country in Africa. The country has
Its executive branch is the Head of Government and Chief of State as well. The president is elected by the National Assembly for five year terms. South Africa has a growing economy with plenty of natural resources. “Gold, platinum and precious stones such as diamonds account for nearly half of South Africa's exports. Auto assembly, textiles, iron, steel, chemicals and commercial ship repair also play a role in the country's economy. In addition agriculture and agricultural exports are significant to South Africa” (Briney).
South Africa’s economic growth has continued to slow down. There is notably inadequate energy supply, infrastructure gaps, weak domestic demands, and anemic investment rates. Another major issue with the economy is the unemployment rate. The unemployment rate is a significant increase at 24% and 49% in youth employment. Lack of skills is a constraint on growth as well (Kumo).
Women and children are a primary target when discussing sex trafficking. The ages vary starting from 14 years old and even lower. Some are kidnapped and forced into sex trafficking. It could be because they are uneducated and from a different country not being use to the culture or can’t speak the language. Poverty conditions may influence individuals to willingly participant in prostitution as well. If women or children don’t comply with their predators they are threatened or even beaten for not obeying what they are
All the numbers and statistics on human trafficking are just estimates based how many people are discovered or reported. The U.S State Department released a state to reporters who write stories about the numbers of human trafficking: “Numbers game. Reporters often lead with numbers, but reliable statistics related to human trafficking are difficult to find. Human trafficking is a clandestine crime and few victims and survivors come forward for fear of retaliation, shame, or lack of understanding of what is happening to them. Numbers are not always the story. Pursue individual stories of survival, new government initiatives, or innovative research efforts until better data are available” (Zurita, 2014). This statement means that there is no concrete way to know how many people are involved or to even get a close estimate because of how it’s not reported. No one knows how many child and adult trafficking victims there are in America. Seventeen government departments and agencies came together to create Federal Strategic Action Plan on Services for Victims of Human Trafficking in the United States 2013-2017. The Federal Strategic Plan states: “While it is difficult to measure the magnitude of human trafficking, the International Labor Organization estimates that more than 20 million men, women, and children