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Member of Parliament (MP) for North Dayi Constituency in the Volta Region, Ms Joycelyn Tetteh has called Ghanaians to join the fight against human trafficking across the country.

According to her, combating human trafficking should be seen as a collective responsibility of every single individual in the country. She therefore tasked all and sundry to prioritise, own and personalise the duty to protect the vulnerable in society, especially victims of human trafficking.

Speaking at the Regional launch of the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) which seek to combat human trafficking in Ghana at the Teachers’ Hall, Ho, Ms Tetteh hinted that the fight against human trafficking presents a very daunting task, especially for those who continue to work for the protection of people from exploitative and hazardous labour.

The MP for North Dayi explained further that there are three main reasons for which the fight against human trafficking needs everyone’s support and cooperation.

The first reason according to her is that, human trafficking is a multibillion trade for which criminals involve in it are doing everything to the extent of giving their lives to ensure that they find ways to outwit and outsmart law enforcers.

“Secondly, another equally worrying reason is the use of the internet to facilitate human trafficking. It has been noted that the use of online recruitment platforms makes it almost impossible to track down these criminals.

“Thirdly, the dire economic realities of Ghana make victims more vulnerable to threats, force, other forms of coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, the abuse of power and exploitation” the North Dayi lawmaker noted.

She was however, worried that Ghana continues to suffer from legislative overload. “As we speak Ghana have legislation on almost every matter.  There are laws for the protection of the fundamental human rights of all persons especially, women, children and the vulnerable in society. Unfortunately, we struggle to enforce these same laws that we have made ourselves”.

For this reason, Ms Tetteh appealed to governmental agencies, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) as well as the citizenry to up their game for the fight against human trafficking by using the SOPs tool effectively.