Traffickers promise jobs, police warn

Traffickers often promise jobs and a lavish lifestyle to their victims.This according to Inspector Nikanor Paulus of the Namibian Police in the Oshana Region, who made the remarks during a training workshop in Ondangwa last Wednesday.The Ombudsman - in partnership with the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung’s Namibia-Angola office – hosted the three-day training on understanding access to justice and the legislative framework to combat gender-based violence, trafficking in persons and child care and protection.The training was attended by various stakeholders in human rights and legal services and also served as community engagement.Trafficking is trading in persons for purposes of exploitation, he said, adding that it affects both men and women but often victimises women and children.“Trafficking victims may be exploited for different purposes, including work, sex, forced marriage or organ removal.”Trafficking in NamibiaNamibia recorded 19 cases of trafficking in 2020, while 30 cases were recorded in 2019, Paulus said.“The 2020 trafficking victims included three Namibian children and one Namibian adult exploited for sex [as well as] six Angolan children and six Angolan adults exploited for domestic work and sex,” he said.One Zambian adult was exploited for domestic work, while a Zimbabwean adult and a Kenyan adult were exploited for sex, he said.According to Paulus, someone commits an offence of trafficking in persons if he or she intentionally recruits, transports, delivers, transfers, harbours, sells, exchanges, leases or receives a person by means of threat or use of force or other forms of coercion of abduction.Other forms include fraud, deception, kidnapping, abuse of power or abuse of position and giving or receiving payments or benefits to obtain the consent of a person for purposes of exploitation, he noted.Forms of exploitationAt the workshop, forms of exploitation were listed. These include: Forced labour or services, which are obtained through threat, force, intimidation, exploitation or other forms of coercion or physical restraint.Forced marriage does not involve the free and full consent of both spouses or violates both civil and customary marriages laws in Namibia, while child labour violates the Namibian Constitution, the Labor Act or the Child Care and Protection Act.The training also covered child maintenance, legal aid, wills and estates and domestic violence, amongst other topics.- tuyeimo@namibiansun.com

Traffickers promise jobs, police warn

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Namibian Sun 2025-06-18

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Traffickers promise jobs, police warn

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Namibian Sun 2025-06-18

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