Marcel van der Watt, PhD
Affiliation: University of South Africa (UNISA)
Dr. Marcel van der Watt is a senior lecturer at the University of South Africa (UNISA), Research Director for the Global Resource Epicenter against Human Trafficking (GREAT), and Case Manager for the National Freedom Network (NFN). He is an ex-member of the South African Police Service (SAPS) where he worked as hostage negotiator and investigator attached to the Hawks (DPCI) and Sexual Offenses (FCS) Unit. It was in his role as police official during 2002 when he first came across the trafficking of women and girls in the sex trade. Marcel gained international recognition for his work in human trafficking and received numerous awards for the investigation of crime, including an unreserved endorsement from E. Benjamin Skinner (Harvard CARR Centre for Human Rights Policy) and a position in the YPIA Top 35 under 35 Africans for 2014. He provides expert court testimony on issues related to control methods, modus operandi and sentencing considerations in human trafficking cases, assistance in on-going investigations and intelligence-gathering activities, and participates on provincial and national human trafficking task teams. Marcel serves on the Editorial Board for the Journal of Modern Slavery, and has published and presented his work on local and international platforms.
Research Interests:
Human trafficking/Trafficking in Persons
Organized crime
Psychologically motivated crimes
Complex systems theory & thinking