Human Trafficking in  [Swaziland]  [other countries]
Street Children in  [Swaziland]  [other countries]
Child Prostitution in  [Swaziland]  [other countries]
 

Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery

In the first ten years of the 21st Century  -  2000 to 2009

Kingdom of Swaziland

In this small, landlocked economy, subsistence agriculture occupies approximately 70% of the population. The manufacturing sector has diversified since the mid-1980s. Sugar and wood pulp remain important foreign exchange earners.

With an estimated 40% unemployment rate, Swaziland's need to increase the number and size of small and medium enterprises and attract foreign direct investment is acute. Overgrazing, soil depletion, drought, and sometimes floods persist as problems for the future. More than one-fourth of the population needed emergency food aid in 2006-07 because of drought, and nearly two-fifths of the adult population has been infected by HIV/AIDS.  [The World Factbook, U.S.C.I.A. 2009]

Swaziland is a source, destination, and transit country for women and children trafficked internally and transnationally for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation, domestic servitude, and forced labor in agriculture. Swazi girls, particularly orphans, are trafficked internally for commercial sexual exploitation and domestic servitude in the cities of Mbabane and Manzini, as well as to South Africa and Mozambique. Swazi boys are trafficked for forced labor in commercial agriculture and market vending. - U.S. State Dept Trafficking in Persons Report, June, 2009  [full country report]

 

CAUTION:  The following links have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in Swaziland.  Some of these links may lead to websites that present allegations that are unsubstantiated or even false.  No attempt has been made to validate their authenticity or to verify their content.

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Human trafficking rife in SA

They are promised a better life in South Africa, but instead they are kidnapped, branded and sold into sexual slavery for as little as R380.  Women and children, some as young as 13, are falling prey to syndicates operating in Mozambique and Swaziland, trafficking and smuggling them to South Africa on an unprecedented scale.

 

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U.S. Dept of Labor Bureau of International Labor Affairs

CHILD LABOR LAWS AND ENFORCEMENT - Forced and bonded labor, including by children, is also prohibited.  Children are protected by law against child pornography and sexual exploitation.  There is no law prohibiting trafficking in persons.

Bur of Democracy, Human Rights & Labor - Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2005

TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS – The law does not prohibit trafficking in persons, and there were reports of trafficking of small numbers of women and girls. Underage Mozambican and Swazi girls reportedly worked as prostitutes in the country or were trafficked to South Africa for domestic work or prostitution. There is no government agency specifically responsible for combating trafficking.

Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) - 2006 [DOC]

[61] The Committee notes the brief assessment of child labour that was undertaken in the State party but is concerned about the limited information on measures the State party intends to take, or has undertaken, to prevent and eliminate child labour.

Human trafficking rife in SA

They are promised a better life in South Africa, but instead they are kidnapped, branded and sold into sexual slavery for as little as R380.  Women and children, some as young as 13, are falling prey to syndicates operating in Mozambique and Swaziland, trafficking and smuggling them to South Africa on an unprecedented scale.

The Protection Project - Swaziland [DOC]

FORMS OF TRAFFICKING – Young girls have been lured to South Africa from Swaziland for forced prostitution. Trading of emergency food aid for sexual favors has been a problem in Swaziland. Women and children have been told that they must have sex with warehouse managers or truck drivers so they can receive the food aid.

Human Trafficking Stretches Across the Region

Women from rural China, many of them poorly-educated, are often brought to South Africa, said Martens. The women are flown to Johannesburg, and then taken to Swaziland, Lesotho or Mozambique. They then cross the border back into South Africa - all this in a bid to circumvent airport immigration controls.

Swazi trafficking

goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-5353012/Swazi-trafficking-WORLD-EMBASSY-ROW.html#abstract

The ambassador from Swaziland said yesterday that the tiny southern African kingdom is victimized by smugglers who sell women into prostitution and children into forced labor.  Ambassador Ephraim M. Hlophe added that his government endorsed the anti-trafficking bill President Bush signed Jan. 10.

SOUTHERN AFRICA: South Africa regional centre for human trafficking

www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41837

At one time this article had been archived and may possibly still be accessible [here]

"The women stay in transit houses along South Africa's border with Mozambique and Swaziland for a night, where they are sexually assaulted as an initiation. They are then smuggled into Johannesburg and are kept in safe houses in Soweto and Lenasia until they are sold to brothels in Gauteng or KwaZulu-Natal for R1,000 (about $160)," Martens said. The women are also sold as wives to South African men for R650 (about $104).

Freedom House Country Report - Political Rights: 7   Civil Liberties: 5   Status: Not Free

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Human Trafficking in  [Swaziland]  [other countries]
Street Children in  [Swaziland]  [other countries]
Child Prostitution in  [Swaziland]  [other countries]