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MIA One of Nine Signatories to Statement Delivered in Vienna on Trafficking in Persons
Winifred Doherty sgs, on behalf of the Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd, the Sisters of Mercy, Mercy International Association, along with Members of the Committee to Stop Trafficking in Persons, delivered a statement at the Ninth Session of the Conference of Parties to the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (15 – 19 October 2018) in Vienna, Austria.
The statement focused on Item 2 (b) Trafficking in Persons Protocol, and touched upon difficult points in the various negotiations, including allocation of sufficient resources.
“We are more conscious than ever of the interconnections between systemic root causes including poverty, gender inequality, the persistence of patriarchy, misogyny, DEMAND, gender based violence, including non-state torture, and sexual exploitation coupled with weak legislation, poor budgetary allocations and a dismal record in the number of persecutions recorded. All these factors compound to facilitate the flourishing of this criminal activity that violates human rights, and prey on peoples vulnerabilities and desires for a life of dignity and wellbeing.”