Our latest GUEST BLOG from Diane Wilkinson, National Freedom Network, South Africa
As a South African network of actors and stakeholders, we
have seen all sorts of people emerge with a desire to somehow get involved in counter-human
trafficking. These include individuals and organizations who want to spread awareness,
social clubs, church ministries who reach out to those working in prostitution
and strip clubs (we even have a team working with pimps, some of whom have been
trafficked themselves), government representatives, supporters of existing
programs and volunteers who naively wish to ‘break down brothel doors and
rescue girls’.
Nielsen Cares (the social responsibility team of Nielsen SA)
sponsored a set of our Story Board banners that showcase local South African
stories of human trafficking, which we were then able to donate to the Kwa-Zulu
Natal network for use by partners in their awareness events and campaigns. It’s
wonderful to be able to use local resources with real “homegrown” stories to
show that this is not just an issue happening ‘out there’ in Eastern Europe and
South East Asia, but also right here in South Africa.
The Thomson Reuters Foundation generously offered free legal
advice to any of the registered NGOs in the network, and they also hosted a
live streaming of London’s annual Trust Women conference (focusing on female
economic empowerment and anti-human trafficking) here in Johannesburg, which network
partners were able to attend for free.
Production company MoviWorld created a 60 second PSA for us
and one of our network partners that is now available for all network partners
to use across South Africa. Trigger warning for survivors: you can watch Ruby’s
Story here. ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRGLfXoEZoQ )
Rise of the Corporate
As a South African network of actors and stakeholders, we
have seen all sorts of people emerge with a desire to somehow get involved in counter-human
trafficking. These include individuals and organizations who want to spread awareness,
social clubs, church ministries who reach out to those working in prostitution
and strip clubs (we even have a team working with pimps, some of whom have been
trafficked themselves), government representatives, supporters of existing
programs and volunteers who naively wish to ‘break down brothel doors and
rescue girls’.
This year, though, has seen the rise of another role player
in South Africa. All of a sudden, as if on some silent cue, there has been a
burst of interest from corporate actors wanting to know more about the issue and
how they can get involved - beyond just handing over a nice big cheque.
LexisNexis were, to our knowledge, the first corporate actor
to really step up to the challenge in South Africa and take counter-trafficking
on as their Corporate Social Investment initiative, setting the standard high
for corporate involvement. A bold step, but over the past few years they have
been amazing not only with raising funds for their designated Anti Human
Trafficking Fund to help support various network partners across South Africa,
but also by using their position to make available human trafficking
information, including creating their Human Trafficking Awareness Index (http://www.lexisnexis.co.za/pdf/LexisNexis-Human-Trafficking-Index.pdf). What followed was a succession of corporate actors following the example set
by LexisNexis and offering their own unique and valuable support.
Nielsen Cares (the social responsibility team of Nielsen SA)
sponsored a set of our Story Board banners that showcase local South African
stories of human trafficking, which we were then able to donate to the Kwa-Zulu
Natal network for use by partners in their awareness events and campaigns. It’s
wonderful to be able to use local resources with real “homegrown” stories to
show that this is not just an issue happening ‘out there’ in Eastern Europe and
South East Asia, but also right here in South Africa.The Thomson Reuters Foundation generously offered free legal
advice to any of the registered NGOs in the network, and they also hosted a
live streaming of London’s annual Trust Women conference (focusing on female
economic empowerment and anti-human trafficking) here in Johannesburg, which network
partners were able to attend for free. Production company MoviWorld created a 60 second PSA for us
and one of our network partners that is now available for all network partners
to use across South Africa. Trigger warning for survivors: you can watch Ruby’s
Story here. ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRGLfXoEZoQ )
The latest offering has come from advertising company Ad OutPost,
who have offered us billboards and other outdoor media space to create
awareness.
For us here in South Africa, these initiatives represent a
big step forward and we are grateful to each of these companies for caring,
sharing and supporting the cause.
Diane Wilkinson
Network Coordinator & Gauteng Provincial Networker
National Freedom Network
Operations Manager
Project Tshireletso
