Catholic women discuss negative effects of human trafficking
THE women’s wing of the Accra Archdiocese of the Catholic Church has celebrated the World Union of Catholic Women Organisation (WUCWO) Day in Accra, focusing on the negative effects of human trafficking.
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The global theme chosen by the WUCWO for the next five years for all Catholic women is “Women: Sowers of hope”, and the national theme for this year’s week-long celebration, which started last Saturday, is “Women: Sowers of hope”, which emanates from the global theme.
In Ghana, the National Council of Catholic Women (NCCW) is the affiliate body of the WUCWO, while the Accra Diocesan Council of Catholic Women is a subsidiary of the NCCW.
Victims
Speaking at the event, the acting Director of Social Development at the Catholic Secretariat, Mr John Floyd Fiifi Sackey, said human trafficking caused serious violations on the rights of victims and infringed on their freedoms saying that there was the need to identify the root causes of that ‘inhumane act’ and take measures to control it.
“Even though the Trans-Atlantic slave trade was abolished in 1807, it still continued today in the form of human trafficking with over 27 million victims worldwide”, he said.
He said the crime was gaining notoriety in parts of the country, mostly involving teenagers who were trafficked from the rural to urban areas.
According to him, poverty, ignorance, large family size, weak laws and a culture that demeaned the vulnerable groups accounted for the rise in the crime in the country.
Effects on victims
Mr Sackey added that besides violating and abusing the human rights of victims, most of the young victims, especially girls who were trafficked were exposed to commercial sexual exploitation and its related health implications.
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For her part, the Director of Anti-Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU) of the Ghana Police Service, Chief Superintendent Patience Quaye, said human trafficking was the second ‘most lucrative’ crime in the world and that it was a global monster that must be tamed.
She said about a fifth of kidney transplants in the world were from the black market where the victims of human trafficking were offered by the traffickers.
She said Ghana had been identified as the destination and transit point for trafficked persons, pointing out that it was in response to this unfortunate situation that her outfit was established in 2005 to deal with the crime.
Control measure
C/Supt. Quaye said the AHTU had the mandate to protect, prevent, prosecute and partner other relevant stakeholders to eradicate the nuisance from the country.
An officer at the Human Trafficking department of the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Mrs Abena Amobea Asare, mentioned that collaboration among stakeholders, strict formulation of legislation by the government, public education, awareness creation and capacity building were some of the positive ways to deal with the issue.
“We need collective efforts from everyone. We should not close our eyes to human trafficking because it is real,” she added.
In separate speeches, leaders of the Accra Diocesan Council of Catholic Women described human trafficking as the worst form of crime against humanity and called on the public, including parents and governmental and non-governmental organisations, to collaborate to address the issue.