Consecrated Persons against Human Trafficking
From March the 12th to the 16th 2018, took place the Training against Trafficking in Persons for ReligiousWomen and Men at the Divine Word Conference Centre Nsawam in Ghana. It was led by the worldwide organization Talitha Kum Arise. Many Religious Congregations, some already involved against slavery and human trafficking, were present. The Society of the Missionaries of Africa were represented by Haile Gazena M.Afr. and Amani BulamboDieudonné M.Afr.. The workshop aimed at training religious and lay persons on how to become active members of the counter-trafficking world-wide network. Talitha Kum works towards preventing human trafficking at its grass roots level and helpsvictims and survivors of that modern day phenomenon.
The training highlighted the menace of modern day human trafficking and its human cost.
The first part of the workshop provided good information about slavery and human trafficking, such as:
- The global framework: roots, constitutive elements, dimensions of trafficking. The phenomenological and juridical framework of human trafficking. Special attention was given to the geopolitical and economic realities of the post-cold war era that led to the rise of human trafficking in destination countries.
- The international law, its flaws and its inability in prosecuting the perpetrators of such heinous acts, due to the weakness of the very law which is meant toprotect the victims of trafficking.
The second part of the training was focused on:
- How to prevent human trafficking and how to protect its victims and survivors through networking.
- It also offered tools of empowerment, models of prevention, examples of good practices and a description of burn out signs of those committed against human trafficking.
Finally, the participants and the mother network “Talitha Kum Arise” founded a sister network which will be known as ConPAHT (Consecrated Persons Against Human Trafficking)/ Talitha KumGhana which will carry out anti-trafficking campaigns and prevention in Ghana; it will interact with the networks of other sister organizations and with the international network in Rome too.
The group vision and mission are as follows:
Vision Statement:We, the members of Consecrated Life in Ghana,
moved by our faith in God,
respect for human dignity and freedom,
commit ourselves to counter human trafficking. |
Mission Statement:We, the members of Consecrated Life in Ghana,
are committed to address the menace
of human trafficking
through the following strategies:
massive awareness creation
towards prevention;
provision of support for survivors;
building knowledge and skills of practitioners
and collaboration with groups
of/with similar interests. |
Haile GAZENA Demissie, M. Afr.
St. Monica’s Parish – Nyankpala