{"id":14893,"date":"2026-05-22T12:59:29","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T10:59:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.olcgs.org\/?p=14893"},"modified":"2026-05-29T14:47:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T12:47:16","slug":"youth-against-trafficking-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.olcgs.org\/fr\/youth-against-trafficking-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Youth Against Trafficking: From Training in Pretoria to Action in Hebron"},"content":{"rendered":"

Edited from a submission by Judith Dumbutshena, Communication Coordinator, Unit of South Africa<\/em><\/p>\n

In Pretoria, South Africa, young people and religious women and men recently came together to strengthen one of the most important forms of prevention in the fight against human trafficking: helping communities recognize risks, protect one another, and respond with courage and compassion.<\/p>\n

Talitha Kum Afrique du Sud<\/a>, together with the Conf\u00e9rence des responsables de la Vie Consacr\u00e9e en Afrique Australe<\/a> (LCCL-SA), in partnership with the Southern African Catholic Bishops\u2019 Conference<\/a> (SACBC), held a three-day training workshop for youth ambassadors<\/strong> \u00e0 Padre Pio Retreat Center<\/a> in Pretoria, South Africa, from May 12\u201314, 2026. Participants included young people between the ages of 18 and 30\u00a0preparing to serve as anti-trafficking ambassadors in their communities.<\/p>\n

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For the Good Shepherd network, the workshop showed how youth leadership, women religious, and partners-in-mission can work together in a shared response to human trafficking. It also reflected the vision of the Talitha Kum Africa Youth Ambassadors Program<\/strong>, which places young people at the center of prevention and equips them to educate and protect their peers. This year, the program reached participants from countries across Eastern, Southern, Central, and West-Central Africa.<\/p>\n

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Sello at Hebron a giving talk on Human Trafficking to the program participants.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sello Mashaba, a Good Shepherd partner-in-mission and Talitha Kum South Africa youth ambassador, represented Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd at the workshop and served on the planning team. The following week, he gave an awareness talk on human trafficking to participants in the Skills Center at the Good Shepherd Mission in Hebron. This brought the training directly back to the community and showed how formation can become action when young leaders are supported and entrusted with responsibility.<\/p>\n

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Sr. Zelna and Sello at the three-day training program.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Good Shepherd Sister Zelna Oosthuizen, President of LCCL-SA, facilitated part of the workshop and commissioned the youth ambassadors at the end of the gathering. Her role reflected our commitment in South Africa to confronting human trafficking as a moral, social, and pastoral challenge.<\/p>\n

Over the three-day training, participants examined what human trafficking is, the United Nations and South African legal frameworks that address it, and how these frameworks can be implemented through awareness-raising, prevention, victim support, and survivor protection<\/strong>. Participants also explored the conditions that increase vulnerability to trafficking, including poverty, migration, inequality, online manipulation, and lack of access to safe opportunities.<\/p>\n

In South Africa, trafficking affects women, children, migrants, and economically vulnerable people in particular. It can involve sexual exploitation, forced labor, and other forms of abuse. By connecting legal frameworks with lived realities, the workshop helped participants understand that anti-trafficking work must be practical, informed, compassionate, and survivor-centered.<\/p>\n

The youth ambassadors were encouraged to develop concrete ways of raising awareness among young people in their dioceses. This focus matters because young people are not only among those targeted by traffickers; they can also be effective voices for prevention<\/strong>. Through peer education, local campaigns, parish outreach, and social media, they can help others recognize warning signs, respond safely, and seek support.<\/p>\n