A 26-year-old woman, who was allegedly forced to act as a sex slave, has been rescued from from a house in Brooklyn by City of Cape Town law enforcement officials.
Law Enforcement spokesperson, Wayne Dyason, said that the City of Cape Town’s Vice Squad inspected a property in Frank Robb Street and found seven young women inside.
Officers took one of the women aside after noting that she seemed very uncomfortable. With her consent, law enforcement officers removed her from the property.
Dyason said the woman, who is originally from Johannesburg, made her way to Cape Town after meeting a woman who promised her a job in a restaurant. The woman also paid for her bus ticket from Johannesburg to Cape Town, and instead of leading her to a job, led her to the Brooklyn property where she was forced into prostitution and drug use.
The woman was moved to a safe house, and the Hawks have been tasked with launching an investigation into a case of human trafficking.
The other six women on the property refused assistance. “They indicated that they needed no assistance from us, so were left them there,” said Dyason.
Speaking to IOL, several Brooklyn residents said they are not surprised by the incident. They say the area is frequented by illegal sex activity, and find it “disgusting”.
Statistics South Africa said in its 2016/2017 Victims of Crime report that the recruitment of victims is an important part of the trafficking process. “According to the respondents to the survey recruitment can happen in different ways, but it mainly involves deception,” the report read.
A21, a human trafficking advocacy initiative, backs up this finding and breaks down the luring methods used in human trafficking:
– False job opportunities – 42.5%
– Tricked by friend -4.3%
– Tricked by lover – 9.6%
– Abduction – 4.4%
– Sold by family – 10.7%
– False immigration – 2.4%
– Other – 4.6%
– Unknown – 21.4%
Picture: Pixabay