The trafficking of children for purposes of sexual exploitation

m) A review of the following relevant international Conventions and Charters signed and ratified
by South Africa, among these
• United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child, 1979
• The African Charter on the Rights of the Child
The sources listed from a - m provided information on the following:
• verified cases of trafficking and an indication of the ages and gender of children, their places of
origin, circumstances under which they had been abducted or sold, nature of the debt bondage,
length of stay in place where the child had been trafficked to and conditions in place of captivity
• information on aspects of the social realities of trafficked children such as possible health risks
• information on traffickers
• information on trafficking routes, places of origin and destinations
• police detection and investigation procedures
• indications of possible policy reform
• information on current legislation allowing for the identification of gaps
• indications whether current legislation is in keeping with commitments agreed to in United
Nations Conventions and the Charter on Rights and Welfare of the African Child.
Interviews
Our methodology for qualitative data collection with regard to the children was based on a snowball
sample and semi-structured interviews. The focus in these interviews was firstly on obtaining
demographic information about the children with regard to their ages at the time they were
trafficked, their present ages, the methods of trafficking and the conditions under which they were
held captive. In addition, it was also assessed what type of intervention would be needed.
The research design was influenced by two key difficulties. First, since trafficked children are
usually closely watched and protected from contact with outsiders, the children we wanted to
interview were not accessible through direct approaches. Secondly, those who had left organised
aspects of the sex industry were difficult to trace. In consequence, we relied on the technique of
snowball sampling, as this form of non-probability sampling appeared the most realistic method to
use.
A single informant was used to put field researchers in touch with their friends who were
subsequently interviewed, they were then asked about their friends until the chain of informants had
been selected. Access to the children was gained on guarantee of anonymity and the protection of
their identities.
In one instance a police officer led us to an interviewee. In another a family member led us to three
trafficked girls as well as another family member.
In this respect field researchers inherited the decisions of each individual as to whom the next
suitable interviewee would be. We do not believe that this represents a problem as our interviewees
presented sufficient diversity. We are however aware that we might have been led down a path of
data collection which reflects a particular perspective. This in turn might have led to the omission of
voices and opinions of others that are not a part of this network of friends and acquaintances.This
did however present us with a situation where 19 of the 20 interviewees were connected to a
particular trafficking situation. This in turn necessitated the case study approach in Chapter 6.
Literature
As with all research, interviews did not begin when we first commenced. Preparatory work through
reading, initial exploratory work, understanding the situation into which we were venturing,
clarifying any ambiguities which people might have of the research and eliciting their co-operation
and being sensitive to ethical, political and theoretical considerations in the process, formed a
central part of our practice. The literature was obtained in the following ways. Die Instituut vir
17