They Call Me Hottentot Venus : Saartjie Baartman

This book addresses human trafficking in easy, non academic language.

It is a novel and is a good read especially for teenagers.

Saartjie Baartman also known as Hottentot Venus, was an ordinary, curious, 18 year old, who, in 1810, travelled to a foreign country with all the excitement and expectation of any young girl, eager to see the big world, eager to make some money.

Her big misfortune was a meeting with a British surgeon, Alexander Dunlop, who befriended her, and used his position as a man of medicine to cover up his real motive, which was to display her as a piece of erotic meat. And to make money out of her. Saartjie tells what went through her mind as she watched the crowds in exhibition halls in Europe gaping at her whilst feeding their erotic fantasies.

She talks of her Khoikhoi culture and tells of her innocent hopes and dreams to earn honest money, and of her shame and degradation.

The book shows that society let Saartjie down, and ends with a well-referenced bibliography for further reading.