The Chief Director for the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Dr. Afisah Zakariah has urged the various law enforcement agencies to have a solid workforce against combating human trafficking and illegal migration.

Dr. Zakariah noted that women and girls are more vulnerable to human trafficking in other countries; adding that they are made to engage in inhumane activities in the name of work.

She made the comments during a three-day workshop organised for security agencies last Friday.

“Many women and girls are deceived and trafficked to other countries in the name of looking for jobs but become slaves to their masters,” she lamented. 

She noted that human trafficking is a threat to national development and a serious crime against humanity and the law.

According to her, globally, human trafficking is the second-largest trade and organised crime.

“The main objective therefore for this capacity building workshop is to enable our law enforcement officers have a stronger grip on the issues of human trafficking so they can fight it,” she said.

Head of the Human Trafficking Secretariat at the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Abena Annobea Asare, said human trafficking is the second largest trade recorded on the global black market.

This, she noted needs a more effective and efficient collaboration from all the stakeholders in preventing Ghana to become a hub of the trade.

Abena Annobea Asare also expressed worry that there is likely to be a spike in human trafficking as the border restrictions have been lifted with enhanced measures to be expected.

She believes that by the end of the training, participants will have a better understanding and knowledge on human trafficking and victim identification which will increase the number of prosecutions.

A total of 831 human trafficking victims were rescued in 2021, with more than 30 prosecutions ongoing, according to her.

The Volta Regional Police Commander COP Edward Oduro Kwateng in a statement said all human trafficking has become a global issue that required collaborative efforts of all stakeholders to tackle the menace.

He noted that it is an affront to human dignity and infringes on the rights of individuals, adding it is a criminal offence under the Human Trafficking Law, Act 694 promulgated in 2005.

“We, therefore, needed to strengthen the collaboration among partners to fight against this menace,” he said.