United Nations World Day against Trafficking in Persons

compiled by Oviya.E

Empower people are known for their great initiatives. United nation' day against trafficking falls during the time when people are facing the pandemic in 2020. This webinar is based on trafficking especially women trafficking.

We have Mr. Shafiqur Rahman Khan who gives an overview about trafficking. Mrs. Heather Morse talks about the bridges of Communication: Building Trust With Trafficked Persons. Varun Pathak, Raju Nepali and Farhana Ahmad talk about the effective use of Media in Combating Trafficking and finally  World Response to Trafficking is addressed by Heidy Goercke

Several important issues were discussed in this webinar. Ms. Heather Morse shares her experience as she and her teammates do street outreach in Chicago. They approach women with all sorts of difficulties. She says that when they look at women on the streets, though they pretend to be out for drugs, the story is entirely different.

They help women to be safe from traffickers and also assure safety in the future. Though the words used by people around the world are different, yet the effects of abuse, obstacles in getting safe are still the same.

She shares some instances of trafficking that she has seen. She says that homelessness, poverty, and family dynamics are the most common entry points for traffickers.

She tells about a girl who left Japan fearing a trafficker and landed in America very underdressed for the extreme cold. She had no money. She explained her situation to a bus driver who unfortunately turned out to be her pimp. Ms. Morse helped her come out of the situation. The obstacle that stopped her from coming out of the situation is fear and she didn’t have resources and a support system.

Another girl who was 16 years old was a drug addict. She approached a person for drugs. He used her for earning money through prostitution. She spent 15 years in that situation and even after getting entered into the rescue camp she didn’t accept the fact that she was trafficked. She held herself to be guilty.

It is important to self-identify and the people who try to help the victims of trafficking must build a trust system and analyze the situation of the victim. It is very easy to tell that SHE CHOSE THAT is person who doesn’t analyze the victim properly. This is because the victims are mentally prepared in a way that they keep themselves responsible for their bad situation.

This webinar brought in all aspects of human trafficking. The learned people who work on the field to save the victims are to be recognized. It is our prime responsibility to stop this crime.