(from our correspondent) 50,000 is the number of women traded every year in Africa out of a global total of 700,000 to 2 million. Of these, between 1998 and 2000 3,582 women were counted in Ghana, and between 2001 and 2005 another 6,458, which is nearly twice as much. They pass through the "African routes" that start from Cameroon and run through Burkina Faso, Mali, Algeria, Morocco, to Spain and Italy, often walking through the desert or covering long distances by boat. Such figures were illustrated today by sister Henriette Adindu of the Centre for Spiritual Renewal of the diocese of Kumasi, the Ghana. Sister Henriette, along with another 32 sisters across the world, is a member of an international network that fights the trade of people and that was established in Rome last October. "We strongly believe in preventative work on the victims", she explained today at the workshop on "Slavery and new slavery" organised in Cape Coast, the Ghana, by Ccee and Secam. While showing some transparencies used for the awareness-raising campaigns, she told about the causes of such trade (poverty, illiteracy…), the people involved (as well as traders, also tour operators, teachers, families, corrupted policemen), the ways it works. (continued)
