The Trafficked in the Pandemic

pandemic on the victims of human trafficking

The immediate impact that raised an outcry from the victims of human trafficking who collaborate with the African Forum for Catholic Social Teaching (AFCAST), at Arrupe Jesuit University in Harare Zimbabwe, was the lack of personalised face to face counselling and interaction which they enjoyed and received from the institution and also the loss of livelihoods. Mrs Dadirai Miriam Chikwekwete

Immediate Impact of the

AFCAST Research Unit, Arrupe Jesuit University, Harare

Deaf Workshop on Human Trafficking

Guidance and counselling forms part of the package of the psycho-social support system afforded to them as they rehabilitate and re-integrate into their respective families and communities. The lack of a safe space that is availed to them at AFCAST was felt immediately as soon as the announcement of the lockdown was announced in March 2020. The social impact of Covid-19 is immeasurable because these young women enjoyed meeting and sharing joys and tribulations. The therapeutic weekly sessions enabled them to have their ‘me time’ away from their homes and families. The young women have been engaged in various economic activities ranging from buying and selling groceries, small business entrepreneurship, cross border trading, clothing and other wares, poultry farming, cake making, hair saloons, fashion designing,

“Arrupe Jesuit University would provide a safe space for the young women to come and spend some time away from home and their communities.” decoration and wedding Organisation (WHO), found guilty of trafficking. management. These government policy and This is a travesty of justice. economic activities enabled guidelines on protecting (The Herald, 6 May 2020; them to fend for the families. the citizens from the AllAfrica.com 2020) As the situation prevails, the pandemic have actually young women are finding made life unbearable for Tragedies presented by it difficult to make ends these young women. On Covid-19 on these victims meet as they are unable to the one hand, it is prudent The lock down is prohibiting continue with their trades for the government to travel without authorisation. due to the restrictions on institute these policies in Some of the service movement and meeting. line with WHO directives to providers and stakeholders They can be susceptible to combat the pandemic, but indicated that their budgets traffickers because of failure equally so, there is so much are exhausted and the focus to fend for themselves and suffering for these young is now on Covid-19 related their families in terms of women as they have no issues, and thus they are not paying bills that include alternatives to enable them assisting trafficked victims. rentals, food and medication. to earn decent living. This means that some of the This implies then that they It is reported that one of the services such as medical become vulnerable as they traffickers, Norest Maruma attention were cancelled as might fall prey to traffickers was recently released the providers concentrate on and other abuses due to from a Zimbabwe prison the pandemic. This is tragic. economic hardships which through a 2020 Presidential in the first place led them Amnesty after serving only With regard to those who to being trafficked (Vatican two years of a twenty year had enrolled in formal News 2020). sentence. This could pose a education and skills The World Health threat to those that she was training, AFCAST has made

arrangements for them to receive tuition online and also receive personalised tuition from the providers in order to enable them to write the examinations wherever possible. But online counselling is a problem for some of the young women whose gadgets are not compatible with WhatsApp or internet. The small phones enable them to make phone calls and send text messages only. As such efficient and effective communication is difficult for some of them. Most of the young women intimated that they prefer face to face counselling which ables them to share their emotions and concerns, as opposed to online counselling.

Some of the young women lost their incomes during the pandemic. Those who had spent their income on sewing uniforms ended up with piles of them since schools were closed. Those who were in poultry farming had orders from schools and organisations cancelled. They will have to reorganise their stocks. Others who had reared chickens had to look for other markets and unfortunately they had to sell these at loss making lower prices. Some of the cake makers lost businesses for birthdays, organisation functions and confectionaries as the lockdown continued and the pandemic became more pronounced. Tailors among them spent sleepless nights making garments for which they are unable to deliver and receive payment since the clients want to first fit into the garments before making payment. Weddings and parties were cancelled and the decor experts found themselves with no jobs and no payment. Cross border traders were hard hit by the travel ban.

Opportunities

The organisation quickly adopted new ways of providing the needed follow up counselling by communicating with the young women via WhatsApp, email, texting and phone calls. Those who had registered for examination classes, engaged with their peers and joined study groups and some began to receive online tutoring and self tutoring. However, those who had established personalised relationships with some of their customers in areas such as cake making, tailoring and poultry farming scored successes in their businesses by continuing to supply goods and services to their loyal customers. Those gainfully employed were not affected much as they continue to receive their remuneration whilst at home and some have resumed work. Normally Arrupe Jesuit University would provide a safe space for the young women to come and spend some time away from home and their communities. They would share their struggles, fears and successes as individuals and as teams. The exchanges impacted positively on their wellbeing. Lack of such safe space has had psychological effect as some of them who would phone to find out when the physical office would open to enable them to continue with their therapy and other meetings.

Conclusion

In his 2020 Easter Message, Pope Francis states that there are people who face an uncertain economic future and fears of unemployment. He called on political leaders “to work actively for the common good, to provide the means and resources needed to enable everyone to lead a dignified life...” (Vatican News 2020). The Pontiff reiterated that “Covid-19 is testing the whole of the human family as the world is oppressed by the pandemic which has brought so much suffering and causing physical and economic difficulties”. The victims of trafficking are not spared since they are part of the human family and equally share the suffering.