Eswatini is a source, destination, and transit country for women and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically commercial sexual exploitation, involuntary domestic servitude, and forced labor in agriculture. Swazi girls, particularly orphans, are subjected to commercial sexual exploitation and involuntary domestic servitude in the cities of Mbabane and Manzini, as well as in South Africa and Mozambique.
Swazi boys are trafficked within the country for forced labor in commercial agriculture and market vending. Some Swazi women are forced into prostitution in South Africa and Mozambique after voluntarily migrating to these countries in search of work. Chinese organized crime units transport some Swazi victims to Johannesburg, South Africa, where victims are "distributed" locally or sent overseas for subsequent exploitation.
Traffickers reportedly force Mozambican women into prostitution in Eswatini, or else transit Eswatini with their victims en route to South Africa. Mozambican boys migrate to Eswatini for work washing cars, herding livestock, and portering; some of these boys subsequently become victims of trafficking. Information on the full extent of trafficking in Eswatini is not yet available, as the government is still carrying out research into the scope and nature of the problem.
The Government of Eswatini does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. This assessment is based in part on the government's commitment to undertake additional action over the coming year, particularly enforcement of its newly enacted comprehensive anti-trafficking legislation. The U.S. State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons placed the country in "Tier 2 Watchlist" in 2017.
Prosecution
The Swazi government increased its capacity to conduct anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts, although no suspected trafficking offenders were arrested or prosecuted during the reporting period. In 2009, the government enacted comprehensive anti-human trafficking legislation, which provides for the prosecution of trafficking offenders and protections for victims, including immunity from prosecution for immigration violations.
The People Trafficking and People Smuggling (Prohibition) Act, 2009 became effective in December 2009. The legislation considers consent and past sexual behavior of the trafficked persons to be immaterial, and incorporates provisions against money laundering as a way to identify persons involved in human trafficking. The Act covers both internal and transnational forms of trafficking and provides for victim restitution through the forfeiture of convicted offenders' movable property. The law prescribes penalties for all forms of trafficking, including the act of facilitating trafficking offenses, of up to 20 years' imprisonment, plus a fine determined by the court to compensate the victim for his or her losses; these penalties are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with penalties prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape. Likewise, the prescribed penalties of up to 25 years' imprisonment for trafficking children for any purpose are also sufficiently stringent.
The government began educating officials and law enforcement officers on the provisions of the new law, and the media reported that officers had begun making inquiries into possible trafficking situations. Police investigated one possible trafficking situation, though no arrests were made in connection with the case and further information was not available. The government did not provide any specialized training in victim identification for law enforcement and immigration personnel, though it began planning for such future training.
Protection
The Government of Eswatini took initial steps to create greater capacity for protecting trafficking victims, though it did not identify or assist any victims during the reporting period. Procedures for the government to provide victims with access to legal, medical, and psychological services were not implemented during the reporting period. The Anti-Trafficking Task Force, however, began developing such procedures, as well as formal procedures on the proactive identification of victims for law enforcement, immigration, and social services personnel. The Task Force also investigated how it can best be prepared to provide assistance to repatriated Swazi trafficking victims who had been identified in foreign countries.