The trafficking of children for purposes of sexual exploitation

4. Design and Method
4.1. Aims and research tasks
This report focuses on seven key aspects, which relate to trafficking. These are
a) a profile of those who are trafficked
b) a profile of traffickers
c) an indication of established trafficking routes
d) an overview of South African legislation that provides guidelines with regard to issues related to
the trafficking of children for purposes of sexual exploitation. These issues are the care and
safety of children, migration, child labour and child prostitution
e) an overview of international conventions and agreements aimed at the prevention and
elimination of the sexual exploitation of children and the trafficking of children
f) police investigations
g) service provision in terms of safety and treatment to children rescued from trafficking.
In terms of scope, the research hopes to provide insights that will be relevant not only to South
Africa but also to other regional and international initiatives and to provide a basis for further
research and social and legal action.
To this end the specific research tasks were:
1. To investigate actual reported instances of trafficking within the provinces of the Western Cape,
Gauteng, KwaZulu Natal and the Eastern Cape, focusing on the main centres where trafficking
has been reported; namely Cape Town, Pretoria, Johannesburg, Durban and Port Elizabeth.
These centres were chosen because we had limited time in which to complete the research and
because there were actual reported cases, which could be investigated
2. To examine and compare South African and international experiences of trafficking focusing on
legislation, police and anti-trafficking organisations' investigative procedures and
methodologies
3. To review South African legislation and international conventions
4. To create profiles of trafficked children, traffickers and identify and map trafficking routes and
destinations
To make recommendations with regard to social policy and legal reform.
4.2. The research team
The research team comprised a senior researcher and two field researchers. The project team was
based at the Molo Songololo offices, in Cape Town.
4.3. Design and Method
Data Collection
The research comprised the collection of qualitative and quantitative data. Data was collected
through the following procedures:
a) A search and review of relevant literature, including print media, covering reported instances of
trafficking, trafficking routes and international debates and trends in trafficking for purposes of
sexual exploitation of children
b) Extensive interviews with nineteen girls and one young woman who had been trafficked when
she was a child
c) Interviews with two family members of trafficked children
d) Interviews with three adult sex workers; two in Cape Town and one in Durban
e) Open ended interviews with members of the following South African Police Service (SAPS)
departments: Aliens Investigation Unit (Pretoria), Border Patrol Unit (Cape Town), Child
Protection Unit (Cape Town), The Youth Desk (Cape Town), The Section Head of the Family
Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit, The South African Narcotics Bureau (Port
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