By: Nyima Sillah
The National Agency Against Trafficking in Persons (NAATIP) for the first time introduced a hotline (1123) for victims of trafficking and as well fighting against trafficking.
Executive Director, Isatou Dabo, said the development comes at a time when victims of trafficking now require more than ever, facilities that provide access to confidential reporting by a mechanism that allows victims to report abuse without fear of intimidation, stigmatization, or re-victimization, noting the hotline is reachable 24/7.
“The National Agency Against Trafficking in Person (NAATIP) is mandated under the Trafficking in Person Act, 2007, to receive and investigate reports of activities of trafficking from the public or otherwise coming to its notice or knowledge and to initiate activities and promote strategies to combat trafficking.
“As per its mandate the agency has now put in place a Toll-Free hotline for the public to report cases of trafficking in persons,” she said in a statement.
However, she added that Trafficking In Persons, a form of modern slavery, is the recruitment, transport, and transfer of persons using force, fraud, or coercion to exploit them for acts of labor or sex.
She pointed out that According to the International Labor Organization, human trafficking is the fastest-growing organized crime with approximately $150 billion in annual profits and 40.3 million individuals trapped in slave-like conditions.
