APT Activities
At the latest meeting of APT members, held on November 16 2009, part two of the paper on sexual ethics in the context of the problem human trafficking was presented by Irish theologian Suzanne Mulligan (left in this picture). Both papers can be downloaded from the Resources Section of this website.
During the business section of the monthly meeting, two Task Groups were established. The first will amend the Powerpoint Presentation used when meeting adult groups to incorporate some of the information from Suzanne's papers. The second will investigate the possibility of recruiting volunteers to extend awareness raising in Third Level Institutes and among other citizens.
APT members were present at Dail Eireann - the Irish Parliament - for the Private Member's Motion on Human Trafficking debated on November 17-18, and have written to each of the members who participated encouraging them to keep the issue before the Dail, making a number of recommendations.
On November 19, APT members participated at a meeting of Irish agencies involved in counter-trafficking work to discuss a common strategy to address the issue of demand for purchased sex, which is seen to be a serious root cause of trafficking for sexual exploitation.
The next monthly meeting of APT members takes place on Monday, December 14 2009.
 Human Trafficking: Psychologically Shattered and Caught in a Legal Quagmire
As part of the ongoing campaign to raise awareness about the issue of Human Trafficking, APT organized a very successful Conference in Dublin on October 19 2009. It addressed two aspects that deeply affect the person who has been trafficked. First the psychological impact, and secondly the legal quagmire in which the person can become trapped, even if lucky enough to escape from the traffickers.
The panel of speakers brought a wealth of experience from international assignments. More than 100 Participants included members of Diplomatic Missions to Ireland, the Irish Senate, the legal profession, religious leadership and the network of NGOs who are concerned with various aspects of the problem of Human Trafficking.
Eimear Burke drew on her experience listening to the stories of women who had been trafficked to Ireland and cited many of their statements regarding the tragic circumstances in which they were trapped.
Hilkka Becker spoke of the difficult path whicha trafficked persons and their legal advisers have to tred, once they have escaped from their traffickers, and on the shortcomings of Irish legislation to protect them.
Kathleen Fahy, Director of Ruhama, a direct service provider to trafficked persons, responded to Eimear Burke's paper, while Barrister-at-Law Teresa Blake responded to the paper by Hilkka Becker.
Stellan Hermansson made a strong plea for Ireland to study the experience in Sweden, where graduallyly, over a period of ten years, the country adopted the principles of gender equality, eventually leading to legislation that criminalises the purchase of sex.
Paper by Eimear Burke, Counselling Psychologist, on The Psychological Impact on the trafficked person (PDF, 75 KB)
Paper by Hilkka Becker, Senior Solicitor with the Immigrant Council of Ireland, on The Legal Quagmire a trafficked person faces after escaping from the traffickers. (PDF, 170 KB)
Address to APT Conference, Dublin, October 2009. Stellan Hermansson (PDF, 61 KB)
Programme for APT Conference (PDF, 110 KB)
Biodata on Speakers (PDF, 40 KB)
September monthly meeting of APT
September 21, 2009
At the meeting of APT members, held on September 21 2009, a paper on sexual ethics in the context of the problem human trafficking was presented by theologian Sue Mulligan. The paper was the first of two presentations on this topic, and will be available on this website next month.
APT is currently preparing a Conference on Human Trafficking to be held in Dublin on October 19. For further details email info@aptireland.org
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Last modified: Friday, February 5th, 2010
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