Journalist schooled on child trafficking

Senchi (E/R), Dec. 08, GNA - Mr Daniel Christian Dugan, Deputy Minister of Women and Children Affairs on Friday called on journalists to spend time to conduct thorough investigation into issues before publication.

"Information that is half-cooked or baked only goes to destroy the morality of society for information that is incorrect, incomplete and unfulfilling, can only poison the mind of the reader, viewer, or listener," Mr Dugan stated at the opening of two-day strategic workshop for Journalists from the Southern Sector on Child Trafficking at Senchi in the Eastern Region. The workshop on the theme; "Combating Child Trafficking in Ghana The Role of the Media," was organised by the Ghana Journalists Association in collaboration with the British High Commission and attended by about 40 Journalists from Greater Accra, Volta, Eastern, Central and the Western regions. It also seeks to offer journalist a platform to identify and determine national and international responses to the problem of Child Trafficking as well as providing a forum for Journalists to discuss and debate the issues of Child Trafficking with experts in order to improve on their knowledge on the issues.

Mr Dugan entreated Journalists to study the issues of Child Trafficking and be conversant with laws, conventions and institutional framework concerning it, stressing that the role of the media in combating child trafficking is enormous. He explained that some children were trafficked by their own parents who often times accompany them to their destination. Taking Journalists through what was happening in the media landscape, Mr Dugan said the media was exposing the identity of parents of victims and added that, the act could lead to the easy identification of the victim.

He also condemned the state of pornography in the electronic media and appealed to the various media houses to remove it, noting in particular that' "prime time television viewing now carries too much violence and sex and this is not the kind of atmosphere to bring up a decent child."

Mr. Ransford Tetteh, President of the Ghana Journalists Association said the association considers human and child trafficking as serious violation of the rights of children, hence the need to examine the issue as part of its educational and social responsibility mandate. He said; "as Journalists its being our duty to fight the menace wherever we find it. The issue of Child Trafficking is fast becoming topical in our country this is because it is becoming increasingly evident that child labour is a violation of the child's rights and its consequences cut across all sphere of our development." Mr. Tetteh said the media apart from the watchdog role also remains important partners in the society because no meaningful change could take place in the society without their cooperation. He said the issue of Child Trafficking was no longer just a social issue but an economic and legal one.

Mr. Tetteh, therefore, urged the media to devote their heart and mind to the elimination of child trafficking, "seeking to properly understand the issue and doing their individual best tickly national consciousness required for its speedy detection and elimination.