South Africa
Mrs South Africa finalist champions awareness during Human Trafficking Awareness Week─── ZENANDE MPAME 15:31 Mon, 06 Oct 2025
This week marks Human Trafficking Awareness Week, a critical moment to spotlight one of the most hidden and devastating crimes affecting communities across South Africa.
During this time, organisations and individuals advocate for stronger prevention, identification, and support for victims. Human trafficking is a severe human rights violation involving exploitation for forced labour, sexual exploitation, and forced criminality.
Celebrated from last Tuesday (30/9) till Tuesday, it also serves as a call to action for communities to unite against the exploitation and for reporting mechanisms to be strengthened to help bring traffickers to justice.
Mrs South Africa 2025 finalist Talitha Oosthuizen is using her platform to raise awareness and advocate for stronger community protection. Driven by her own childhood experiences, she is committed to giving a voice to the vulnerable and ensuring victims are seen, heard, and supported.
“I unfortunately experienced injustice as a child, and that came with a ripple effect of so many things that have happened to me. I wanted to be a voice, and I wanted to find something close to my heart and I can resonate with.
“People don’t talk about human trafficking, and that is why it’s called the hidden crime; they are afraid, and it’s one of the topics they don’t want to know about. But this happens in our communities, at your neighbour’s house, and even in your own home.”
An estimate of up to 250,000 individuals may have been victims of human trafficking in South Africa, according to a 2023 study by the Human Sciences Research Council. Global estimates suggest millions are affected. Research indicates in South Africa, about 55.5% of victims are female and 44.5% male. Most are aged between ten and 25 years.
“When speaking at schools, we try to separate the children from the parents because when you talk to them together, the children might not speak about what’s really going on, and vice versa, the parents as well.
“When we talk to the parents specifically, we tell them they have to have that hard conversation with their children and talk to them about human trafficking and the dangers there are, and they have to check their children’s phones.”
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