(Version 2 final)

Dear Portfolio Committee on Justice and Correctional Services,

The Portfolio Committee on Justice and Correctional Services invites stakeholders and interested persons to submit written submissions on three Gender-Based Violence (GBV) bills: Criminal Law (Sexual Offences & Related Matters) Amendment Act Amendment Bill , Domestic Violence Amendment Bill and Criminal and Related Matters Amendment Bill.

The government cannot separate gender based violence from human trafficking as most trafficked victims are actually women and children for sexual exploitation and other objectives. Sex trafficking is another form of gender based violence, a systemic oppression and abuse of women that has to be part of these bills, ( http://uir.unisa.ac.za/bitstream/handle/10500/24803/thesis_VanderWatt_M.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y ) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgwonyDYPwc ).

SAPS is under trained when it comes to Human trafficking of women and their criminal stats dont even align with UN’s definitions of human trafficking (https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/human-trafficking/what-is-human-trafficking.html), this acts as a catalyst to actually not fight this issue (the third biggest industry in the world is the buying and selling of women - https://freeforlifeintl.org/2020/07/31/human-trafficking-a-global-enterprise/) at the same time under cut and undermine the data (https://www.saps.gov.za/services/april_to_march_2019_20_presentation.pdf). Trafficking of women/persons doesn’t lend itself to a simplistic counting of cases – the country needs better data (https://issafrica.org/iss-today/the-perplexities-of-human-trafficking-in-south-africa).

Further more during is tenure president Obamaa (US) issued an Executive Order on Preventing and Responding to Violence Against Women and Girls Globally to further enhance the Administration’s efforts to advance the rights and status of women and girls, to promote gender equality in its foreign policyy, and to bring about a world in which all individuals can pursue their aspirations without the threat of violence or other forms of violence include human trafficking, sexual violence etc. (https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2012/08/10/fact-sheet-preventing-and-responding-violence-against-women-and-girls-gl) and explicitly added this to his order as form of gender based violence.

WHAT IS GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE?

According to USAID :This strategy defines “gender-based violence” as violence that is directed at an individual based on his or her biological sex, gender identity, or perceived adherence to socially defined norm. It includes physical, sexual, and psychological abuse; threats; coercion; arbitrary deprivation of liberty; and economic deprivation, whether occurring in public or private life. Gender-based violence can include female infanticide; child sexual abuse; sex trafficking and forced labor; sexual coercion and abuse; neglect; domestic violence; elder abuse; and harmful traditional practices such as early and forced marriage, “honor” killings, and female genital mutilation/cutting. (https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2155/GBV_Factsheet.pdf)
Most human trafficking cases are mixed with a lot of gender based violence, sexual crimes etc. so government need to have clear broader definition of what is Gender Based violence in South Africa, when amending this bills.

Also the fact the illegal migration contributes to trafficking of women and children also contributes to gender based violence is some thing that home affairs has to step as well (see attached) (https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-3-319-63058-8_131).

GBV and human trafficking are intertwined.

UNODC Global Report on Trafficking in Persons UNODC revealed that 70% of the identified victims of trafficking were women. In his message for the day during his tenure, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stressed that whether the crime against women is rape, domestic violence, genital mutilation or trafficking for sexual exploitation, it is inexcusable and must be stopped. (https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/frontpage/2009/November/human-trafficking-fuels-violence-against-women.html) (https://www.winrock.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Addressing-inter-linkages.pdf), current bill amendments tackle a small portion of an even bigger issue that happens domestically, than tackle all forms violence and systemic oppression of women and children, country wide.

Human trafficking is a form of gender-based violence - The US government recognizes that comprehensive efforts to reduce human trafficking must include efforts to prevent and respond to GBV due to the intertwined relationship of the two crimes. Human
trafficking and GBV are interrelated issues that must be tackled together, as the U.S. government articulated in 2012 through the Administration’s Inter-Agency Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence and the USAID Gender Equality and Female Empowerment Policy. In 2013, Congress renewed the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) as an amendment to the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), an additional recognition of the nexus between human trafficking and GBV. (https://d3vc4vygg8dc62.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/Nexus-Between-GBV-and-Human-Trafficking-2015.pdf)

Recommendations

Have a broader plan and bills to combat all forms violence against women, not just passion or domestic violence, have something similar to what the US did with their Strategy to Prevent and

Respond to Gender-Based Violence, which does include sex trafficking and many other forms violence (https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2155/GBV_Factsheet.pdf)

Increase human trafficking training to South African Police Service (SAPS) officers throughout the country. (SAPS came out with a false statement calling it minor and unimportant gender based crime)

Pass Department of Home Affairs (DHA) implementing regulations and complete their Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) and border strengthening tenders (https://etenders.treasury.gov.za/content/request-pre-qualification-redevelopment-six-6-ports-entry-through-public-private-partnership) (https://pmg.org.za/committee-meeting/30914/) (https://etenders.treasury.gov.za/content/request-appointment-service-provider-replace-current-biometric-access-control-system-bacm)

Promulgate the immigration provisions in Sections 15, 16, and 31(2)(b)(ii) of South Africa’s Prevention and Combating of Trafficking in Persons Act 7.

Increase resources and training to identify trafficking victims, including by screening for trafficking indicators among vulnerable populations, such as women in commercial sex, migrants.

Amend the anti-trafficking law to remove sentencing provisions that allow fines in lieu of imprisonment for sex trafficking crimes.

Accredit or establish additional trafficking-specific shelters for male and female victims.

Create and information system that interfaces with home affairs, police etc, to help the government manage all the data to compete GBV, cases, victims, suspects etc.
work with human trafficking NGO's (same once NPA uses) that deal with this day in day out such as A21 (https://www.a21.org/), national freedom network (https://nationalfreedomnetwork.co.za/, https://nfnresources.yolasite.com/research.php), Marcel van der Watt - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgwonyDYPwc - https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcelvanderwatt/)

Concerned Citizen

Kind Regards