The training, held as the Senegambia Beach Hotel, is view by NAATIP officials, as an important step in preventing human trafficking and ensuring that victims of all forms of human trafficking have access to the services they need. The training brought to the fore key concepts such as: What is human trafficking and how does it relate to forced labor and the potential indicators of labor trafficking, among a host of others.
Addressing the gathering, Isatou Dabo, executive director of NAATIP, explained that the idea behind the event is to expose participants with firsthand information as to what TIP is all about, key indicators involve how one can identify victims and some of the legal framework surrounding TIPs.
She explained that NAATIP was established by an act of parliament and that under the 2007 Trafficking-In Persons Act, the institution is mandated to deal with all issues of Trafficking-in Persons in the country ranging from investigation into trafficking cases and forwarding all investigation reports to the Ministry of Justice for opinion writing and prosecution of alleged offenders.
Dabo informed that NAATIP was created to combat human trafficking as a form of international organised crime, reminding that the same way drugs are a problem globally, is the way human trafficking.
"Research and statistics have shown that human trafficking is the second biggest problem when it comes to crime after drugs."
She also talked about the mandates of the institution and that the institution is committed to initiating measures and to reduce the demand for commercial sex exploitation both domestic and internationally.
"NAATIP is fully committed to the prevention of all forms of human degradation and exploitation through the coordinated use of the nation’s crime prevention resources to stamp out trafficking in persons and other vulnerable group especially women and children from dehumanization and exploitative employment. "
She explained that another mandate of the institution is to monitor immigration patterns of the country and thus called on to join hand to combat human trafficking in the country.
