Rising use of cyberspace to facilitate human trafficking troubling - NPP MP

The Member of Parliament (MP) for the Mpraeso Constituency, Davis Ansah Opoku, has expressed concern over the increasing prevalence of human trafficking cases in Ghana and Africa as a whole.

The lawmaker has thus, raised an alarm about this disturbing trend and believes it should be a matter of concern for African leaders.

According to Mr. Ansah Opoku, human traffickers have adopted new methods, including the use of social media, to carry out their crimes. He emphasized that these syndicates lure unsuspecting individuals into the trafficking business, exploiting them for profit.

During his statement in Parliament on Wednesday, July 19, the MP highlighted the disheartening fact:

“Mr Speaker, it is heartbreaking to note that whilst the Government of Ghana is striving relentlessly to tackle the known patterns of human trafficking, traffickers are taking advantage of technological advancements and new media to forge new ways to facilitate human trafficking, particularly sex trafficking.

"This has transformed the global human trafficking business into one UNICEF conservatively estimates turn an annual profit of about USD 32 billion; other estimates peg this figure as over USD150 billion.

"Mr Speaker, human trafficking, specifically sex trafficking, happens on this scale because an entire infrastructure supports and facilitates it. Young, vulnerable, and impressionable girls are recruited through social media sites such as Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram, with traffickers masquerading as love interests.

"Others are lured by the extravagant lifestyles of social media influencers who traffickers sponsor. According to a 2018 report by the All-Parliamentary Group on Prostitution and the Global Sex Trade of the British Parliament, other women are lured online with promises of employment in other countries only to be coerced into brothels when they arrive,” excerpts of his statement read.

Mr. Ansah Opoku described the infrastructure that supports and facilitates human trafficking as extensive. He added that deceptive offers of overseas employment lead many women to end up in brothels against their will, as reported by the All-Parliamentary Group on Prostitution and the Global Sex Trade of the British Parliament in 2018.

In light of these distressing developments, the MP has urged African leaders and authorities to take urgent action to combat the rising use of cyberspace to facilitate human trafficking and protect the vulnerable individuals targeted by these criminal networks.

GA/SARA