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PREPARING SOUTH AFRICA FOR THE WORLD |
Concerns have been raised that child pornography site users and sex offenders may take advantage of the 2010 World Cup. This was one the concerns raised at a workshop earlier this month to discuss child pornography and related offences. Advocate Iyavar Chetty of the Film and Publications Board has strong view on the issue. Project 2010 asked him…..  Can you tell us more about the workshops? We are trying to raise awareness about child pornography and sex tourism and human trafficking. It's not specifically because of 2010, but there's no doubt that the World Cup is an issue and we have to deal with it accordingly. Why do you feel the World Cup could be a catalyst for this problem? I'm not suggesting the World Cup is a catalyst, but there is some evidence that people who are on sexual offender registers in countries like the UK and the US would molest children overseas where they are not being monitored. Of course, it then becomes our problem, particularly because the World Cup will overwhelm us with the number of visitors. We are worried about molesters taking advantage of the organised chaos that we are expecting. Also there's the issue of closing schools for the duration of the tournament. When children are not in class, they are vulnerable - it's as simple as that. What can be done to address this problem? We are hoping to create awareness among the public so people are aware of the risk. Also we will do workshops at schools so children themselves realise the extent of the problem. Does this issue tie in with the debate over the legalisation of prostitution for 2010? No, they are different issues, but I'm not sure that the legaisation is a good thing. There were concerns that there would be a major increase in human trafficking for the 2006 World Cup in Germany, but this didn't materialise. Why should South Africa be any different? Germany has had a longer period to deal with the problem - they hade better resources. We might not be as capacitated as the Germans were - all we are saying is that this is a risk and we should be aware of it. more interviews...
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