Human trafficking is a reality
Don't be fooled, human trafficking can happen in your neighbourhood.
THE scary reality of human trafficking was the topic of discussion at Tuesday's Bulwer Community Safety Forum meeting.
Guest speaker, Yvonne Halley from Harvest Centre Church, spoke on her experiences as a missionary in Kenya, and the rescue of a young girl, who had been trafficked.
'Grace' was the product of a divorced couple. Her father remarried and his new wife didn't want her anymore, as they were poor. She convinced Grace's father to sell her for R200 as a child bride to an old man.
Yvonne spoke of her journey to Kenya and her search for this young girl, who was later found hidden away by a family on the coast of Kenya.
“She was so happy someone had cared enough to find her. She is being looked after by her grandmother now, without her father's knowledge. It was a fantastic rescue, but she is just one of hundreds of young girls that we can't help,” she said.
Yvonne spoke of the way young girls who are entering puberty and are still virgins are in high demand in Kenya, and are given to tourists visiting the country as sex workers.
“The girls go from the farmlands to the beach to collect wood for fires to cook their food. The traffickers know this and they put up plastic huts on the beach, and approach the girls. They take them into the huts, rape them and force them into prostitution. The girls are tricked, trapped and trafficked, they are taken across the borders through Mombassa and are sold as slaves,” she said.
She said this was not only happening in Kenya, it could happen in any neighbourhood.
“It's happening on your own doorstep, don't be fooled that it can't. The community needs to act against it and work together to relieve the situation,” she said.
Heather Rorick, chairperson of Bulwer Community Safety Forum, said she had heard of a possible case in the Glenwood area on Tuesday.
At the meeting, Rorick also spoke of the success of the forum's partnership with Mzansi Fire and Security in Esther Roberts Road, and the bobbies on the beat project, encouraging others in the road to get on board and take on Mzansi as their security provider.
“Crime has dropped drastically in the road. We have had a meeting in Ferguson Road and will be having a meeting in Esther Roberts Road soon to get more people involved. We have proved this project works in one of the busiest roads in the area. The more clients there are, the more patrol vehicles can be on the roads to bring down crime,” she said.
