The trafficking of children for purposes of sexual exploitation

was beaten up. Anil and one of the young boys in the house thwarted Stephanie and Sandy's first
attempt at escape, as Stephanie describes it:
"We went to stand near the neighbours who were having a braai, outside. Eugene came out and shouted and swore at
me and told me to stay inside the house. I told him that I didn't want to. He told one of the boys who was standing
outside that he should shoot us if we tried to run away. The boy had his hand under his jacket the whole time. I wasn't
sure if he had a gun."
She tells how she escaped two months later. She left the house and went and knocked at several
doors, asking to use the phone and how no one would let her. She eventually found a public
telephone from where she called her mother.
Abduction 2
Recounted by one abductee: Jenny 156
Three girls had run away from a reformatory for girls. They were spending the Saturday afternoon
in the city centre. They walked around in the Golden Acre and from there went to the Parade. "Ons
het naby die Parade geloep, toe hoor ons 'n kar die hele tyd hoot. Ons kyk toe om en ek sien toe is 'n
wit BMW." (We were walking near the Parade. We heard a car hooting, persistently. We turned
around to look and saw a white BMW.)
There were three men in the car who forced the 3 girls into the car, at gunpoint. From here they
were taken first to the Bo-Kaap and then " tot agter 'n factory, en hulle stop toe nou daar by 'n hys
en sê ons moet yt-klim.” (We stopped at a house, which was behind a factory. They said we must
get out of the car.)
Once inside the house they were asked if they smoke and drink and because they did not, were they
made fun of, and called the "Ballerina Girls."
According to Jenny, Zulfa was initiated as a sex worker that same night. She and Lucia however
were held captive for differing periods of time. Lucia escaped 6 days after the abduction and 2 days
after she had been raped.
Table 5: Profile of abducted girls
Name
Age at
time of
abduction
Age at
time of
interview
Abducted
from
Abducted
when
Length of
stay
Became
a “sex
worker”
Nature of violence
experienced
Jenny* 14 16 Parade 1998 3 months Yes Physical assault
Alicia* 14 17 Parade 1996 7 months Yes Raped and physically
assaulted
Mercia 14 17 Golden Acre 1997 2 months No Physical assault
Denise 16 19 Golden Acre 1997 1 month No Raped
Sandy 14 17 Golden Acre 1997 2 weeks No Threatened
Marlene 14 17 Parade 1996 A day No Raped
Janine 14 16 Parade 1998 A few days No Threatened and
assualted
Amanda 15 17 Parade 1998 6 days No Raped
Crystal 14 16 Parade 1997 3 days No Threatened
Verosha 13 15 Parade 1997 1 month No Raped
Anthea 15 17 Parade 1997 1 month No Physical assault
Nadia 14 17 Parade 1996 2 weeks No Threatened and
physically assaulted
Samantha 14 17 Parade 1996 2 weeks No Physical assault
Portia 15 17 Golden Acre 1997 3 weeks No Raped
Stephanie 14 17 Golden Acre 1997 2 months No Threatened
* Also represented in Table 6
156 Interview with Jenny conducted in April 2000
54