Stories of Freedom in South Africa from Dressember Partner, A21
Last year, we partnered with A21 to build A21’s first Freedom Center in Bulgaria. Your advocacy & donations during Dressember this year will help A21 build a Freedom Center in South Africa. In South Africa, A21 operates the National Human Trafficking Resource Line, a 24/7 line dedicated to assisting every Human Trafficking related call that comes in. Below is part one of real stories from South Africa that have come into the hotline. Together, we can create space for survivors like these in South Africa. Learn more about our partnerships here.
Prevention & Hotline Call
A young man was helping his grandmother board a bus and noticed two minors on the bus who spoke a foreign language. The couple traveling with them did not speak the same language and seemed to be a different nationality than the minors.
He overheard the two minors say that their mother is lost. He found this strange as the couple was acting like they were the parents of these two minors. He decided to call the A21 National Human Trafficking Hotline in South Africa, and could only provide the information of the highway that the bus was traveling on and the license plate number.
The hotline team worked quickly to reach the bus company and was able to get more information on the bus route and the contact details of the bus driver. They managed to locate the bus destination and establish contact with the driver.
Law enforcement was then dispatched and able to stop the bus on route in coordination with the driver. The suspects were taken into custody and we were able to partner with law enforcement in coordinating support services for the children.