NEXT: Human trafficking is tough to track and trace.
Facilitator @nixonron speaks to Anon of Uganda (who went undercover as a domestic slave in the Gulf), @HusseinMohamedg and Nesmon De Laure about what it took to document their stories #AIJC2020
Facilitator @nixonron speaks to Anon of Uganda (who went undercover as a domestic slave in the Gulf), @HusseinMohamedg and Nesmon De Laure about what it took to document their stories #AIJC2020
First up, Anonymous from Uganda, whose identity is being protected for her safety. Her three part story, Undercover Journalist Sold Into Slavery in Dubai, was an effort to get evidence on entrenched human trafficking rings #HumanTrafficking #AIJC2020
She pretended to be a desperate young woman looking for money and was eventually sold after working on the idea since 2018. The story can be read here: newvision.co.ug/news/1517775/u…
Anon says young girls are promised jobs and big money but end up being sold into domestic slavery with no option of escape as their passports and visa's are taken upon arrival in foreign countries #HumanTrafficking #AIJC2020
Anon says she was sold into an Arab home and regretted her undercover mission more than once because of the conditions she faced in that house #HumanTrafficking #AIJC2020 
Anon: "It is very easy to sell a girl." She says corruption at ports of entry help facilitate the passage of trafficking victims #HumanTrafficking #AIJC2020
.@huseinmoha from KTN News in Nairobi says they have seen an increase of girls between 12 and 15 being bought and sold as commodities in Kenya. They have paid as little as $14 to buy a child from a parent in a recent expose #HumanTrafficking @AIJC2020
114 girls were rescued after the sellers were reported to the police. @husienmoha says this isn't #HumanTrafficking, it is human smuggling #AIJC2020
Q&A Session: Anon asked about the danger she put herself in for her story - she says people believed her more because she became an actual victim and was not just a journalist reporting a story. She says there was extreme care and planning taken to ensure a measure of safety
.@huseinmoha says they had to go as far as posing as buyers for their investigation because policymakers and law enforcement were not taking the story seriously enough before they employed this tactic #HumanTrafficking #AIJC2020
"Were any of the girls sent back to their families after being rescued?" @huseinmoha says, unfortunately, follow-up stories have shown that some were sold again once back in the care of their parents #HumanTrafficking #AIJC2020
Anon says she managed to get back to Uganda by paying her way out. Her news organisation sent her money to have her passport returned, from there she could her way back #HumanTrafficking #AIJC2020
Speaking to victims of human trafficking is very difficult and needs to be done with care says @delaurenesmon. She adds that many are lured by promises of a better life in Europe for example and end up looking to #HumanTrafficking as a way to get there #AIJC2020
Mohammed: The main issue is poverty. People are sold into exploitative situations often hoping for or looking for jobs #HumanTrafficking #AIJC2020
Panelists each asked one last question: "How do you cover #HumanTrafficking stories without fetishising victims?"
Anon says: I interact with victims and make sure I offer what protection I can
@huseinmoha says: Ethics, protection and spending enough time with victims is key
Anon says: I interact with victims and make sure I offer what protection I can
@huseinmoha says: Ethics, protection and spending enough time with victims is key
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