United Way South Africa Leads the Way with Trafficking Prevention Education for Youth

Sibongile paid close attention one afternoon when presenters from United Way South Africa came to her school in Kwa Zulu Natal and shared about human trafficking. She learned the difference between how it looks in the movies versus reality. She learned how traffickers recruit and exploit individuals and what human trafficking can look like in the digital space. Armed with new information, she went on her way. One day, when a situation in her community raised alarm bells, she recalled that afternoon’s presentation. Thanks to Sibongile’s quick thinking and attentiveness, she was able to identify two girls who were being trafficked.

Human trafficking, the act of compelling someone to work through force, fraud, or coercion, is a widespread issue that impacts communities around the world. In South Africa, the enduring legacy of colonialism and apartheid have left a significant impact and make many people vulnerable to issues like human trafficking today. The 2023 Global Slavery Index estimated that around 158,000 people experience human trafficking in South Africa each year due to widespread disenfranchisement and inequality. 75% of those affected are under 26 years old, according to United Way South Africa, placing South African youth, particularly black and mixed-race youth, at high vulnerability for human trafficking. With high youth unemployment that traffickers can take advantage of, many South African young people find themselves desperate for work and stuck in unsafe and exploitative conditions in street vending, agriculture, commercial sex, restaurants, and forced marriage.

Noticing this trend in their communities in the Gauteng province, United Way South Africa decided to take action. Beginning in 2022, staff collaborated with A21 South Africa to create and deliver a human trafficking prevention curriculum, first to direct service workers and then to youth in secondary schools across Johannesburg. The initial program targeted teachers, administrators, after-school staff, and social workers with a workshop focused on what makes young people vulnerable to exploitation at this transitional time in their lives and how to prevent and intervene in exploitative labor recruitment. The team educated 86 youth workers in the first year of this program. United Way South Africa and the A21 South Africa team followed up with five workshops on rights and the risks of human trafficking for 1,081 young people. United Way South Africa’s efforts also included a prevention workshop with the IkamvaYouth Centre, which supports workforce development for youth from under-resourced communities nationwide.

For their National Day of Service in 2023, United Way South Africa staff members joined young people at the IkamvaYouth Centre branch in the Ebony Park neighborhood of Johannesburg. One Year 11 participant, Musa*, says, “We all had the opportunity to ask questions about human trafficking, research it, and learn and practice safe online behavior. Most importantly, I have learned common tactics traffickers use on victims and know that I should not share my contacts online with strangers.” United Way’s ability to reach Musa, Sibongile, and thousands of other students like them at such a critical junction point in their lives is vital in the effort to combat human trafficking in South Africa by equipping youth and those who care for them with the tools to protect themselves and others to stop human trafficking before it starts and step in to protect one another.

Building on the success of the initial pilot program and the newly built partnership with IkamvaYouth Centre, United Way has expanded its educational efforts in collaboration with A21 South Africa and leveraging donations from local schools and nonprofit organizations. Together, they have expanded their program to include multi-lingual education in students’ indigenous languages at secondary schools in the Kwa-Zulu Natal Province. The ongoing relationship with the IkamvaYouth Centre network has expanded its reach to young people in vulnerable communities across the Gauteng and Western provinces. These collaborations will broaden the reach of UWZA’s human trafficking prevention curriculum to over 300 students attending more than 20 schools, including 4 in the Soweto township, where youth are at exceptionally high risk of exploitation.

At United Way, access to quality education is a step toward a better future. We know that student-staff relationships in schools and community programs are vital to preventing and addressing the mistreatment and exploitation of young people. United Way South Africa’s work in human trafficking prevention education arms young people with information on how to safely enter the workforce. These efforts demonstrate just one of many ways United Way is working directly within communities around the world to protect, support, and uplift young people with the tools, resources, and education they need to succeed in the workforce and the world at large, free from trafficking and exploitation.

You can learn more about the work that United Way South Africa is doing to combat human trafficking here. To read more about United Way’s worldwide reach in the fight against human trafficking, check out our 2023 Impact Report.

*Name changed for child privacy