Mpraeso MP Raises Red Flags About Increasing Cyberspace Human Trafficking

The Member of Parliament (MP) for Mpraeso Constituency, Davis Ansah Opoku, has raised concerns about the alarming increase in human trafficking cases in Ghana and across Africa through the use of cyberspace.

According to the lawmaker the trend is a distressing phenomenon and challenged African leaders to act as a matter to address the situation before it becomes too late.

Speaking on the floor of Parliament in a statement on Wednesday, July 19, 2023, Mr Ansah Opoku revealed that the syndicates involved in human trafficking are now exploiting social media platforms to facilitate their illicit activities.

Unsuspecting individuals are lured into the business, only to suffer at the hands of these criminal networks.

“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 USD 150 billion.”

Mr Ansah Opoku who is also the Deputy ranking Member on the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament drew attention to the tactics employed by traffickers on social media platforms where they masquerade as love interests to recruit young, vulnerable girls.

“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.”

He also cited a 2018 report by the All-Parliamentary Group on Prostitution and the Global Sex Trade of the British Parliament, which revealed that some women are deceived with promises of employment in foreign countries, only to find themselves coerced into brothels upon arrival.

“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,” the statement noted.