As part of the South African Government’s strategy to combat human trafficking, the International Organization for Migration, in partnership with METRO FM and international media professional, Nebojsa Ilijevski, will be conducting this two-day workshops for local media and journalists in South Africa on the topic of Human Trafficking: Reporting on the Phenomenon in South Africa.
According to the organisers, human trafficking is a global criminal activity, with as many as 800,000 people estimated by the United States government to have been trafficked across borders annually, and millions more being trafficked within their own countries. Lured by promises of well paying jobs and other opportunities away from home, victims of trafficking willingly accept the services offered by human traffickers without realising the full nature of their future employment, or the conditions in which they will work. Once firmly trapped in an alien environment, they are forced into prostitution or bonded labour for the benefit of their traffickers.
In addition to providing media professionals with tools designed to increase their technical and theoretical capacity and expertise to research, investigate, communicate, and report on the field of human trafficking, the workshop aims to empower the media to participate in South Africa’s efforts to combat human trafficking by raising the awareness of the public through informative, effective, and frequent reporting.
These workshops form part of a greater counter-trafficking strategy being implemented by the South African Government through their European Union (EU)-funded programme "Assistance to the South African Government to prevent, react to human trafficking and provide support to victims of the crime".
