The security implications of child trafficking for labour exploitation from Mozambique to South Africa

Abstract

Human trafficking is a growing global crime that poses a threat to national and international security. Trafficking transgresses national borders and threatens human security, and, by default, it requires international cooperation. The threat posed by trafficking impacts the security of individuals, societies, and nations. Child trafficking is linked to distinct areas of exploitation that should be given attention to. These areas include exploiting children for sex, labour, organs, forced marriage. Sexual exploitation is an ambiguous and recognised type of exploitation of trafficked children in Africa. Several million victims are affected by trafficking, most of whom are children. This type of trafficking is influenced by various issues such as the demand for cheap labour amid porous borders and weak law enforcement. This research studied migration, focused on child trafficking for labour exploitation. The main purpose is to explore the security implications of child trafficking for labour exploitation by using Mozambique as the source country, and South Africa as the destination country. This study did this by using a human security perspective instead of traditional security. The study used a qualitative research design, and it made use of books, journals, articles, publications, and sources. The study constituted a desk study and as such relied on secondary data such as books, journals, publications, and internet sources. The main objectives of the study included to establish how children are trafficked for labour exploitation from Mozambique to South Africa, and to determine the insecurities of child trafficking for labour exploitation experienced by children. The objectives also included to determine the security challenges experienced by child trafficking victims and to examine why child trafficking for labour exploitation poses a threat to the human security of children. From this study, some of the key findings that were identified were that the definitions of human trafficking in South Africa and Mozambique mirror the Palermo Protocol definition to a certain extent. The literature on trafficking focuses on sex trafficking more than it focuses on labour exploitation. Thus, there is an inadequate amount of available data on trafficking for labour. Various nations do not always view human trafficking as a security problem because it is not viewed as a threat to the state, but instead as a socio-political issue. The implication of this view is that it creates a state-centric and militarist approach to security because it ignores non-traditional security threats, which explains why human trafficking is not prioritised. Children who are trafficked for labour exploitation are at risk because their security is threatened through their physical, psychological, and health security. A comprehensive response to trafficking is therefore required to address the whole range of insecurities. The governments should work with members of the region to implement a system that would allow countries to collect systematic data for the region.