01 Aug 2022

 Botswana has made significant strides to guard against any increment in human trafficking.

This was said by Minister of Justice, Mr Machana Shamukuni at the commemoration of World Day Against Trafficking in Persons in Kazungula Saturday.

Mr Shamukuni said government ramped up sensitization and improvement of the justice system’s capacity to deal with issues of human trafficking.

Recent judgments in human trafficking cases indicated the country was on the right track as they were a vast improvement over the lenient sentences of the past, he said.

Minister Shamukuni expressed the hope that the stiff penalties would deter potential traffickers and smugglers.

Stating that the 19 cases of human trafficking and smuggling before the courts might seem insignificant in terms of numbers, he said people should be cognisant of the hidden nature of the crime and its impact.

The minister stressed the need for continued sensitisation  of frontline officials, stakeholders and the general public to guarantee early detection of human trafficking.

He disclosed that the ministry had developed an Anti-Human Trafficking National Action Plan which placed a certain level of reporting accountability on different stakeholders, including the general public.

Mr Shamukuni said the ministry had concluded consultations on the amendment of the Anti-Human Trafficking Act.

Commenting on the consultations, he said civil society suggested that more should be done to protect society’s most vulnerable such as people living with disabilities.

 He expressed the hope that adoption of the SADC Draft Protocol against Trafficking in Persons would not only buttress regional approach to combating trafficking in persons, but also enhance and elevate national efforts.

UNDP justice portfolio specialist, Ms Natasha Hirschfeld labelled trafficking in persons a serious crime and grave violation of human rights.

She said every year, millions of men, women and children fell into the hands of traffickers in their own countries and abroad.

Almost every country in the world was affected by human trafficking whether as place of origin, transit or destination for victims, said Ms Hirschfeld.

Turning to this year’s theme, she said while the world had adopted, Use and Abuse of Technology, focusing on the role of technology as a tool that could both enable and impede human trafficking, Botswana chose Exposing Abuse and Exploitation Through Community Awareness on Human Trafficking.

With the escalation in technology usage mainly due to the COVID-19 pandemic, human trafficking was dominating cyber space, she stated.

According to Ms Hirschfeld, COVID-19 exacerbated human trafficking because crisis situations were breeding ground for criminals who benefited from chaos, desperation and separation of people from support systems and family members.

Human trafficking was therefore on the rise, especially for women and girls, she said.

Ms Hirschfeld said more than 60 per cent of detected human trafficking victims over the last 15 years were women and girls  with  most of them trafficked for sexual exploitation.

Technology, she said, allowed criminals to operate across jurisdictions and evade detection with greater ease. 

Ms Hirschfeld said abuse of technology fueled human trafficking as a criminal in one location could target and exploit a vast population.

Traffickers used social media and online platforms to identify and exploit victims, deceiving and recruiting them with false promises of better livelihoods, she said adding that technology enabled the criminals to hide their identities and anonymously spread disturbing material such as child pornography. 

She however said technology could also be used as a critical tool to fight human trafficking. 

Ms Hirschfeld urged law enforcement officers and the criminal justice system to leverage on technology to aid in investigations and exposing trafficking networks. ENDS