The trafficking of children for purposes of sexual exploitation

1.2. South African Print Media
The print media, particularly newspapers and magazines are one of our most valuable sources of
information on child sexual exploitation and, particularly, child prostitution. The value of these
newspaper and magazine reports is that they
• raise public awareness about the phenomenon, and
• give children who are being exploited a voice by recording their words and attitudes about the
manner in which they live.
Newspaper and magazine articles have used investigative methods to create public awareness about
child prostitution. These sources also draw on reports from those who work with children at risk to
highlight the factors that contribute to child sexual exploitation. Thus interviews are commonly
conducted with social workers and police officers who work with street children or deal with
families in distress.
A survey of newspaper articles, in the English and Afrikaans press, for the period 1997 to March
2000 indicated certain trends and factors which put children at risk of sexual exploitation. In
addition, these articles also highlight the nature of the trafficking of children for the purpose of
sexual exploitation.
National newspapers surveyed were The Sunday Times, The Sunday World, Rapport, The Sunday
Independent, City Press, and The Mail & Guardian. Regional newspapers reviewed are the Pretoria
News, The PE Herald, The Mercury, The Star, The Argus, The Sunday Tribune, The Sunday Argus,
the Saturday Paper, The Saturday Argus, The Cape Times, Beeld, and Die Burger.
These articles highlight the fact that the sexual exploitation of children is the consequence of the
interplay between macro, meso and micro factors. These factors have been incorporated into the
discussion on the nature of the in-country trafficking of girl children in Chapter 4.
The media in general focus on child prostitution with regard to the following:
• casual factors
• incidence of the phenomenon
• need for effective legislation
• need for effective service provision.
The combined effects of these factors result in the following patterns and trends with regard to both
the sexual exploitation and the trafficking of children for this purpose.
• The voluntary cross-country migration of girl children. This migration can be either from rural
to urban areas or from city to city. They are lured into the sex industry by men either on their
way to the new city or are approached by these men shortly after they leave home
• Girl children are sold by family members to brothels, syndicates and individual gang leaders,
and as child brides to single men
• Girl children are abducted, held captive, sexually assaulted and coerced into having sex with
several men in exchange for money
• Parents facilitate the sexual exploitation of their own children
• Boy children are voluntary migrants and engage in prostitution as a means to survive. Boy
children engage mostly in homosexual sexual activity. Some of these boy children are
homosexual, although most are heterosexual.
Another feature of newspapers is that their adult entertainment and employment sections advertise
either the services of children or advertise for children to work in the industry. Advertisements for
sex with children typically appear in the form of advertisements that advertise as "Barely Legal".
The recruitment of teenage girls between 15 and 18 years of age into the sex industry happens
through newspaper adverts such as the following:
22