Journalists asked to lead fight against modern slavery

The Upper West Regional Manager of ActionAid Ghana, a non-governmental organisation, Ms Terence Tienaah, has called on journalists to lead the fight against modern slavery through education and sensitisation.

She said the role of the media remained essential in the fight against modern slavery in the communities, and asked that the media intensified public education on causes and effects of the menace as well as implications to curtail the situation.

Ms Tienaah made the call at a capacity building workshop for journalists in the Upper West Region on the theme “combatting modern slavery in Ghana”,

The project is being facilitated by ActionAid Ghana, in collaboration with the Ghana Agricultural Workers Union (GAWU), with funding from the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD).

She explained that modern slavery was in the form of forced marriage, child labour, human trafficking, child abuse and forced labour

Ms Tienaah said victims and survivors of modern slavery were mostly engaged in agriculture, fishing, and mining, manufacturing, domestic and commercial sex work among others.

She said the training was to enhance the knowledge of journalists on the subject matter to be able to educate individuals in the communities on modern slavery to forestall the practice.

“As journalists you can help curtail the rising trend of modern slavery in Africa by listening to victims with the passion to follow up on the issue until help is sought for them or the necessary action is taken to help the victim”, she said

Ms Tienaah said the fight against modern slavery was for all, and urged parents to protect their children against any form of abuse in the communities.

The Upper West Regional Manager of Ghana Red Cross Society, Mr Jeremiah Afako, who facilitated the training said more than 40 million people across the globe were into modern slavery with 71 percent of them being women and 25 percent children.

He called on stakeholders and the general public to report issues of slavery to the appropriate organizations for such crimes to be dealt with since, according to him, global statistics show a rise in the situation.

Officers from the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service, the Department of Children and Social Welfare were in attendance to also educate journalists on the need to help sensitise the public on modern slavery.

FROM RAFIA ABDUL RAZAK, WA