The profile less considered: The Trafficking of Men in South Africa
ABSTRACT Human trafficking can broadly be described as the illegal trade of human beings mainly for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation or forced labour. Trafficking is most commonly associated across the world with the trafficking of women and girls for sexual exploitation, to some extent with the trafficking of children for sexual exploitation, and to a lesser extent with trafficking for labour exploitation. While the trafficking of women and girls for sexual exploitation has been explored at length, the trafficking of men and boys for both sexual and labour exploitation has received less attention. Consequently, victim assistance focuses almost exclusively on women and children who have been trafficked for sexual exploitation. Reports of male victims are rare as men have traditionally been overlooked as potential victims of trafficking. Generally, very little is known about the trafficking of men. The trafficking of men in South Africa, or as a regional phenomenon in southern Africa; the extent to which it exists, the exploitative purposes for which its victims are trafficked, suffers from a similar lack of attention. Human trafficking violates several human rights of the trafficked and the impact of trafficking on individuals is severe. One of the stated objectives of the United Nations Trafficking Protocol is the protection of victims of trafficking. Sustained research on the trafficking of men and boys in South Africa is required to shed more light on the forms of exploitation men and boys are subject to. This will inform policy and practice and allow for effective protection and assistance for a hitherto neglected population.