2010 soccer world cups influence on child trafficking

With an estimated 247 000 children in South Africa doing exploitive labour, including prostitution the campaigners of the Child Protection Action Plan for the world cup worry that this number would increase.

Due to the soccer world cup to be hosted by South Africa, the South African schools will be closed from 11 June- 11 July. With the increase in the amount of tourists coming in, children will often be left unattended during the day. The holidays could add onto the problem of more child trafficking cases. Placing the children at high risk of being trafficked or possibly sexually exploited. There are many dangers that can be faced during this soccer season as it is known as, therefore theatre programmes have been put into play for people in rural communities. It was created as a prevention campaign to educate people about the danger of trafficking.

It is expected that the world cup would bring in over four billion dollars and everyone is going to want to benefit from it. Including child traffickers that prey on innocent, unsuspected children. Numbers of such cases are bound to increase during this time. As from next year parliament is due to consider a trafficking law, aiming to prevent children from getting recruited to beg or hawk souvenirs on the streets, or more dangerously being forced into prostitution. It is advised that children attend care centres or youth clubs while their parents are at work.

Many do not realise how bad the affect of trafficking is, it’s something that can have long term effects on an economy. Once the children are released by their captives they are released into a fast paste world with no skills or source of employment. This crippling effect on the economy isn’t the only effect. Families are left broken and damaged with no hope of ever seeing their relatives.

Trafficking isn’t the only thing the children would experience. Commercial sexual exploitation of children can take on many forms. It includes child prostitution or pornography.
They could be forced into labour or services,slavery is yet another form.

To conclude this article I want to end off by saying that we cannot sit back and allow this to continue while the rights innocent children are being taken away.