16 Jul 2019

The Ministry of Defence, Justice and Security has been applauded for leading a most robust and aggressive national anti-human trafficking agenda.

Officially closing the 3rd judicial colloquium on Human Trafficking, assistant minister of Presidential Affairs, Governance and Public Administration, Mr Machana Shamukuni said government was alive to the fact that combating human trafficking required a multi-pronged approach.  

“That is why we are simultaneously addressing issues such as unemployment, poverty, gender-based violence and improving education amongst others.  These are factors that are known to be human trafficking catalysts,” he said.

He also thanked the judges and magistrates for attending the colloquium, noting that their attendance was indicative of the seriousness that they attached to combating human trafficking.  

Mr Shamukuni appreciated that they had engaged in energetic and thought-provoking deliberations as they delved deep into the complexities that constitute the crime of human trafficking and dissected the domestic and international legal frameworks.

Their input, he said would be instrumental in reinforcing the domestic legal framework on trafficking in persons and improving the responsiveness of the criminal justice system to the crime.

The assistant minister said prevention, protection, prosecution and partnership constituted what was internationally recognised as the 4P paradigm, which was central to comprehensively combating human trafficking.  

The 4P paradigm is, prevention by all means including through public education campaigns; protection of victims; prosecution of offenders resulting in sufficiently stringent sentences; and partnership with key stakeholders such as civil society, the international and regional partners and the general public. 

 Mr Shamukuni hoped that all that they had done coupled with their resolutions, would do justice to the objects and purposes of the 4P paradigm.

He said it was extremely concerning that in this day and age, countries still continued to record extraordinary figures in terms of victims of human trafficking the world over. 

It was reported that 4.8 million victims of human trafficking had been registered worldwide, 19 per cent of which were victims of sexual exploitation. 

Mr Shamukuni stated that the figure was staggering.

He praised the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the government of the United States of America, the Association of Women Judges (Botswana-Chapter) and civil servants for making the colloquium possible. Ends