This Sunday, July 30th, is World Day Against Trafficking in Persons: a day to recognize the escalating risks of trafficking, both locally and globally, and commit to stopping it. According to the United Nations, trafficking in persons (TIP) is defined as “the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of people through force, fraud or deception, with the aim of exploiting them for profit”. The theme of the 2023 World Day Against Trafficking is: “Reach every victim of trafficking, leave no one behind.”
Since 2020, Khulisa has been working with a team of researchers to measure TIP in South Africa, where the government passed the Prevention and Combating of Trafficking in Persons (PACOTIP) Act ten years ago on July 29th, 2013.
Our team has recently published a number of reports and evidence briefs on TIP in South Africa, and Khulisa is currently funded to implement the Measures for Countering Trafficking in Persons (MCTIP) study in South Africa, a key component of which is to develop a TIP Provider Toolkit to support PACOTIP. MCTIP seeks to strengthen the response to TIP by addressing substance abuse, mental health issues, and skills development, and to strengthen partnerships, prevention, and protection against TIP.
TIP is a huge, complicated issue that cuts across social class, geography, and national borders. The issue requires an integrated response across government and civil society, and at the international, national, provincial, and local levels. Khulisa is proud to be part of this multifaceted response, and we will continue in the years to come to work with our partners combatting TIP in South Africa and beyond.
