The trafficking of children for purposes of sexual exploitation

gangs in their own right. 135 These girl gangs are as violent as their male counter parts, 136 although
they seem to fit the street gang category more than the organised crime category. Reports have been
written on girl gangs in The United States, Britain, El Salvador and Singapore. 137
Little however has been written on girls in Cape Flats gangs and how they come to be members of a
gang or of what the experience of being in a Cape Flats gang is like or indeed how the girls feel
about being in a gang. Also little is known about the relationship of the girls in gangs to gang
involvement in prostitution – a money generating activity that has been associated with gangs since
the 1980s. 138
3. Case study of girls associated with a Cape Town-based gang
3.1. Introduction
The snowball sampling method led us to a Cape Town gang.
Interviews were conducted with 18 girls and 1 young woman. Of the sample of 19, 6 had been in
the gang for periods ranging from 5 years to three months. The remaining 13 girls had been
abducted by male gang members for the purpose of sexual assault, physical assault and sexual
abuse.
The interview sample further consisted of two adult relatives of
some of the children, two adult sex workers, a police officer
and an independent researcher on gangs.
From these interviews, certain trends and patterns with regard
to the gang and its involvement with the sexual exploitation of
children emerges. It is also possible to construct limited
profiles of the gang leader, the boy gang members and the
girls. In addition the girls' own stories tell of a life of
powerlessness in which personal resistance takes place in the
'nooks and crannies of the day-to- day situation'. 139
The following statement from NICRO evidences that violence
in general, and against women and girls in particular, is a part
of gang existence.
"Gangs fight for power. This battle is partly an attempt to 'prove their
manhood'. The macho culture of South Africa is the result of a maledominated
and violent society. In a society where many people are robbed
of economic and political power, the will to dominate others is increased.
To prove their power and manhood, gangsters often pick on the weaker
members of their communities, particularly women. Men and women are socialised differently from one another in our
society. Men are brought up to be dominant, controlling and powerful, while women are taught to be submissive and
dependent. Gangsters act out this social norm by using their power to control women." 140
That this power is wielded through violence is clear from the testimonies of those we spoke to.
135 K. Tsiakals: 'Girl Gangs' in Washer Zine Volume 2 Issue 1
136 S. McNaught: 'Gangsta Girls' in The Boston Phoenix 20-27 May 1999
137 For Britain see A. Campbell: Girl Delinquents (Basil Blackwell, Oxford, 1981), for Singapore see for instance S.
Vasoo: 'Gang Violence by Girls on the Rise' in Straits Times 18/10/1998. For the United States see for instance K.
Tsiakals: 'Girl Gangs' in Washer Zine Volume 2 Issue 1 see also K. Edwards: 'When Girl Power goes Gangsta' in
Insight Magazine for a report of girl gangs of Vietnamese origin, in the United States.
138 NICRO and SJRP: Ibid p. 12
139 The phrase is borrowed from C. Van Onselen, Chibaro, Ravan, Johannesburg, 1979
140 NICRO and SJRP, Ibid
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