Human Trafficking Bulletin Quotes. Prayers to End Human Trafficking

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1 Please forward to: Pastors, Associate Pastors, Deacons, Liturgy Teams, Pro-Life Committees, Social Ministry/ Social Concerns Committees, Religious Education and Youth Ministry Leaders, and other Parish Leadership Groups Four or five times each year, the calendar offers us a month with FIVE Sundays. Our newly formed Archdiocesan Global Solidarity Team has decided to take advantage of these extra Sundays, by focusing on a particular social justice issue quarterly, when they occur. Our own Catholic Social Teaching will provide the grounding for each issue that is addressed. The Global Solidarity Team of the Office of Catholic Social Justice Ministry, Archdiocese of Hartford, Cordially invites your parish to participate in the first Fifth Sunday Global Solidarity Project January 29, 2012 The team has chosen the issue of Human Trafficking as our first focus issue for several reasons. The guest speaker at the OCSJM Annual Dinner in October, 2011 painted a compelling picture of the crisis that Human Trafficking has become, both internationally and in the US. It is not surprising that Human Trafficking was a major concern for Pope John Paul II, and it continues to be so for Pope Benedict XVI, the US Catholic Bishops, members of various Catholic coalitions against human trafficking, and for President Obama, who has declared this month of January to be Human Trafficking Prevention Month. What is Human Trafficking? It is the exploitation of a person though the use of force, fraud or coercion for the purpose of forced labor or commercial sexual exploitation. In this liturgical season of Ordinary Time, the issue of Human Trafficking is anything but ordinary. And yet, as horrible as it is, it is more prevalent than many of us might imagine, even here in the United States. Approximately 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders each year. 14,500-17,500 individuals are trafficked into the US each year. (Department of State Statistics) It is estimated that world-wide, as of 2009, profits from human trafficking were at $32 billion, and they continue to grow. Enclosed/attached you will find: suggested prayers, bulletin quotes, a bulletin insert/handout, and web links to Church teaching and resources. We invite you to share the packet with the leaders and committees in your parish, and to make this information available to your parish community. Many thanks for anything you can do to raise awareness of this important human rights issue. Please feel free to contact OCSJM for more information or assistance at (203) Sincerely, The Archdiocesan Global Solidarity Team Mary O Brien, Coordinator of the OCSJM Global Solidarity Initiative

2 Human Trafficking Bulletin Quotes On Human Trafficking: The alarming increase in the trade of human beings is one of the pressing social, political and economic problems associated with the process of globalization. It presents a serious threat to the security of individual nations, and a question of international justice which cannot be deferred. Letter of Pope John Paul II May 2002 On Human Trafficking: Slavery, prostitution, the selling of women and children, and disgraceful working conditions, where people are treated as instruments of gain, rather than as free and responsible persons, [this practice] poisons human society, debases their perpetrators, and constitutes a supreme dishonor to the Creator. Second Vatican Council - The Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World On Human Trafficking: I did not come to the United States to be a prostitute. I came to find a better future for my family. No woman or child would want to be a sex slave, and endure the evil that I have gone through..please help us and do not let this happen to anyone else. A trafficking survivor speaking to Congress On Human Trafficking: Trafficking in persons, in which men, women and children from all over the globe are transported to other countries for the purpose of forced prostitution or labor, inherently rejects the dignity of the human person, and exploits conditions of global poverty. Strangers No Longer: Document of US and Mexico Bishops November 2002 On Human Trafficking: At least 12.3 million people world-wide are currently held in modern-day slavery. Viewed through the lens of Catholic social teaching, human trafficking is a crime against the most basic aspects of human dignity and human rights. It preys on the poor and vulnerable and exploits their labor. From Catholics Confront Global Poverty, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. O God of every family on earth, loving and compassionate God, we come before you in prayer, unable to fully comprehend the horror of women and men and children transported to unknown places to be exploited and abused because of greed and profit. We are people of many creeds, united in our sadness and our anger. We cry out together against the degrading practice of human trafficking. Our hearts are saddened and our spirits angry that their dignity and rights are being transgressed through threats, deception, and force. Give us the wisdom and courage to stand up against the evil that makes it possible for people to buy and sell and trade others. Give us the wisdom and courage to stand in solidarity with the victims, that together we will find a way to the freedom that is your gift to all of us. We pray for it to end. AMEN Prayers to End Human Trafficking O God, our words cannot express what our minds can barely comprehend and our hearts feel when we hear of women and girls deceived and transported to unknown places for purposes of sexual exploitation and abuse because of human greed and profit at this time in our world. We cry out against the degrading practice of trafficking and pray for it to end. Strengthen the fragile-spirited and broken-hearted. Make real your promises to fill these, our sisters and brothers, with a love that is tender and good, and send the exploiters away empty-handed. Help us to overcome our reluctance, our divisions, and our feelings of powerlessness, so that we may stand as one in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in the human family. Together, open our hearts and hands and our minds to find a way to the freedom that is your gift to every child, every woman, and every man. We pray for it to end. AMEN From School Sisters of Notre Dame (SSND), Canadian Province, Trafficking Reflection Booklet, page 10.

3 Answering the Church s Call to End Human Trafficking The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives...to let the oppressed go free... (Lk 4:18-19) It begins with a lure a promise of something so much better than what a high school graduate in Moldova, a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, or a child laborer in India might find in their own desperately poor villages. Employment. Education. Opportunity. That s the bait. Then there s the switch. The woman answers an ad to work overseas and arrives in a new country only to have her passport confiscated by people who force her into prostitution. The child is taken far from family and forced to work on a farm without pay, without protection, without schooling. Human trafficking is the illegal trade of human beings for the purposes of forced labor, sexual exploitation and even the sale of organs. And it s lucrative, annually generating $32 billion a year worldwide. That s why it s one of the fastest growing criminal industries in the world, exceeded only by the illegal arms industry and second only to the drug trade. Catholics Confront Global Poverty Goal: Promote comprehensive immigration reform and address the root causes of migration. Human Trafficking Preys on the Vulnerable: At least 12.3 million people worldwide are currently held in modern-day slavery. An estimated 800,000 people are trafficked annually across international boundaries. The majority of victims are women and children from poor villages, urban slums and refugees camps. Viewed through the lens of Catholic social teaching, human trafficking is a crime against the most basic aspects of human dignity and human rights. It preys on the poor and vulnerable and exploits their labor. Under threat and often in isolated conditions, trafficked people have no community support, no recourse, no voice. Largely hidden from view, the scope of human trafficking has long gone unnoticed by the developed world, which often benefits from the cheap labor and economic, though illicit, gain. But that is changing. The Catholic Church in the United States and around the world has called on people of faith to respond by creating tougher international laws that punish those who benefit economically from trafficking, protecting and providing services to those who have become its victims, and eliminating the conditions of poverty and social vulnerability that place people at- risk.

4 End Human Trafficking In its 2007 document On Human Trafficking the Committee on Migration of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops describes how the Church is uniquely positioned to respond: As a global institution that is present in source nations as well as nations that serve as markets for human trafficking, the Catholic Church is well positioned to identify and rescue survivors of human trafficking. In fact, the Catholic Church provides important social services to survivors in the United States and around the world. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and Catholic Relief Services (CRS), the international relief and development agency of the Catholic community in the United States, have identified the importance of addressing poverty reduction and creating safe, legal and orderly migration policies as necessary to combat global trafficking. Addressing the root causes of migration is a key issue with the USCCB/CRS initiative, Catholics Confront Global Poverty. As CRS has studied the root causes of trafficking it has found that solutions are intricately linked to other urgent humanitarian issues including: fostering economic development, providing effective responses to emergencies, promoting greater social protections for women, children and vulnerable groups, and protecting refugees and migrants. It is clear that addressing poverty reduces vulnerability to the bait of trafficking. Nadejda Bolea is only 17, but she has the responsibilities of a grown woman. With a sick mother, a father working abroad, and an 8- year-old sister, the teenager has shouldered the lion s share of responsibilities in her home in a small village in Moldova. My family needs me, she says simply. Nadejda at work in Moldova,. Photo by Iraida Margineanu for CRS Nadejda, whose name means hope, continues, As long as I can remember, I have been making my own money. My father works in Moscow, but is not making enough; my mother can t work, so I am the only one my family can count on. Moldova is one of Eastern Europe s poorest countries; some Moldovan villagers are so poor they sell a kidney on the black market to make money for their families. Many others go overseas for work, and young girls like Nadejda are often targeted by sex traffickers when they do. But CRS job programs mean Nadejda didn t have to immigrate to another country and isn t prey to traffickers. Catholic Relief Services partners with banks, clothing manufacturers and other companies to provide not only job training, but guaranteed employment to girls like Nadejda. The young women learn to be tellers, cashiers and seamstresses, receiving paid internships and help with expenses like transportation. Best of all, the job program means most of the young women don t have to leave their close-knit village communities. My sister is too young and I can t go too far from my village. I can t leave her: I am like a second mother to her. That s why I am very happy about finding work so close to my village, says Nadejda, who makes clothes for a company called Saltoianca. I am used to difficulties, to poverty. But now every day I learn new things and I think I am succeeding. 2

5 End Human Trafficking One example lies in the tiny country of Moldova, sandwiched between Romania and Ukraine. As one of the poorest countries in Europe, Moldova is home to the highest number of trafficked women on the continent. With little opportunity, young girls have one goal once they graduate from high school: to leave their home in search of better jobs and opportunity. This makes them natural prey for traffickers, who mislead them with promises of bright futures only to force them into prostitution. For CRS staff in Moldova, addressing the root causes of women s vulnerability had to go far beyond programs to make them aware of its dangers. Young people were convinced there were no good paying jobs in the region. And while CRS discovered that employment was available, employers insisted that local youth weren t skilled enough for them. So CRS filled the gap, with training programs that would prepare the workforce and programs that would generate employment opportunities. We demonstrated to the communities that there were jobs or they could create them, and that they had sufficient resources to leverage the projects they needed to provide skills, training and create jobs, said CRS Country Representative for Moldova Michael McKennitt. And through that they could avoid or address the root causes of high migration that increase vulnerabilities to trafficking. Because traffickers are somewhat like crocodiles, they wait along the borders and thoroughfares, and when people try and cross them a certain number get eaten. Act now to combat global trafficking Congress must act to reauthorize the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) that expired on September 30, If this legislation is not passed soon, U.S. pressure on countries across the globe to combat modern-day slavery will diminish. Senators Patrick Leahy (VT) and Scott Brown (MA), and others have sponsored S to reauthorize the TVPRA. USCCB and CRS strongly support passage of S and urge the Senate to include the following provisions: Increased funding for trafficking victim services and strong emphasis on partnerships with organizations like Catholic Relief Services to combat trafficking. Authorization of funding for the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons that would assist governments in responding to urgent needs. Establishment of child protection compacts that would help specific countries develop and implement comprehensive anti-trafficking plans to protect children. For more information and resources on how you and your faith community can help combat human trafficking, visit globalpoverty, the Catholics Confront Global Poverty website, and the USCCB s response to human trafficking website: 3

6 Answering the Church s Call to End Human Trafficking Prayerful Responses to Human Trafficking Include this Prayer of the Faithful among your Sunday petitions: We pray for the thousands of people many of them children who are trafficked within their own countries or moved across borders and forced into lives of slavery each year. We pray to the Lord We pray that we may work to end human trafficking in the United States and overseas by creating tougher laws and improving economic conditions that make people vulnerable to trafficking. We pray to the Lord Read this reflection on trafficking in religious education classes, parish meetings and faith gatherings. Invite alternate sides of the gathering to read the stanzas or assign a reader to each section. Oh God, we didn t see them. But you did -The hundreds and thousands of human beings Trafficked each year to join the millions who are trapped in modern-day slavery. Under terrible conditions, they work in factories, plough fields, harvest crops, work quarries, fill brothels, clean homes, and haul water. Many are children with tiny fingers for weaving rugs and small shoulders for bearing rifles. Their labor is forced, their bodies beaten, their faces hidden from those who don t really want to see them. But you see them all, God of the poor. You hear their cry and you answer by opening our eyes, and breaking our hearts and loosening our tongues to insist: No mas. No more. United States Conference of Catholic Bishops th St., NE, Washington, DC globalpoverty@usccb.org (202) Catholic Relief Services 228 W. Lexington St., Baltimore, MD globalpoverty@crs.org

7 Resources for Global Solidarity Sunday - January 29, 2012 Human Trafficking The Office for Catholic Social Justice Ministry of the Archdiocese of Hartford, advances Catholic social teaching by educating and preparing parishes to work for social justice. Their resource page provides resources for you and your parish to use to combat human trafficking: Catholic Relief Services supports programs that combat human trafficking through prevention, protection, reintegration and public awareness. Background information is available, as well as a sign-up form to join the advocacy network which will keep you informed and suggest actions you can take to advocate for our global brothers and sisters: Freedom Sunday is a worship platform that provides churches with what they need to become more aware and more active in opposing modern day slavery. On Freedom Sunday the global church prays, proclaims, sings, and intercedes. This worship empowers the worshiper to move beyond awareness to action. Freedom Sunday can be observed on any Sunday of the year. February 26, 2012 is our global celebration of freedom. For more information: Not for Sale is a campaign of students, entrepreneurs, artists, people of faith, athletes, law enforcement leaders, politicians, social workers, skilled professionals, & justice seekers, united to fight the global slave trade of over 30 million people. The Connecticut chapter is headed by Karen Herbert and Steve Ferraro: The Stop Trafficking Newsletter serves as a forum for exchange among religious congregations and their collaborating organizations to promote awareness and action to counter human trafficking. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) publishes a brochure which summarizes the Human Trafficking issue, called On Human Trafficking. It includes the Church s pastoral statement on the issue and a call to action. Copies of the brochure are available in packets of 50 for $10. Institutional discounts are available. Catholic Relief Services has developed a Handout/ Bulletin Insert (included in this packet) with information, statistics and action suggestions for working to end Human Trafficking. The handout also offers suggestions for Prayers of the Faithful and a prayer to share with parishioners. To find this document online, go to:

8 The document On Human Trafficking was developed as a resource by the Committee on Migration of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). It was reviewed by the committee chairman, Bishop Gerald R. Barnes, and has been authorized for publication by the undersigned. Photos: Kay Chernush for the U.S. State Department. Msgr. David J. Malloy, STD General Secretary, USCCB Excerpts from The Documents of Vatican II, Walter M. Abbott, SJ, General Editor, copyright 1966 by America Press, Inc. Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved. Copyright 2007, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Washington, D.C. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright holder. To order this resource or to obtain a catalog of other USCCB titles, visit or call toll-free In the Washington metropolitan area or from outside the United States, call Para ordenar recursos en español, llame al y presione 4 para hablar con un representante del servicio al cliente en español. To report a suspected human trafficking situation or to seek assistance, contact the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services hotline at (888) or the joint U.S. Departments of Justice and Labor hotline at (888) Publication No. M5-682 United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Washington, D.C. Committee on Migration United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Now, in the twenty-first century, this practice reaches every corner of the globe, from Asia and Africa to Europe and the Americas. It is also present in the United States, as vulnerable men, women, and children are trafficked into our country from other lands. Moreover, U.S. citizens and residents are trafficked within our country. We, the Committee on Migration of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), call attention to this tragic reality to raise awareness among Catholics and others of good will about its devastating impact on vulnerable persons. We urge Catholics to work together to identify survivors of human trafficking and to help rescue them from their bondage. Catholic Teaching and Human Trafficking The Catholic Church has condemned human trafficking and has developed social service programs to serve and protect its survivors. During Vatican II, the Catholic Church reaffirmed its historic concern about forced labor, stating that slavery, prostitution, the selling of women and children, [and] disgraceful working conditions where [people] are treated as mere tools for profit, rather than as free and responsible persons are infamies 1 and an affront to fundamental values... values rooted in the very nature of the human person. 2 In the 2006 annual statement on migration, entitled Migrations: A Sign of the Times, Pope Benedict XVI deplored the trafficking of human beings especially women which flourishes where opportunities to improve their standard of living or even to survive are limited. Similarly the Holy See emphasized related concerns in a recent address at the United Nations, stating that treating a woman not as a human person with rights on an equal basis with others, but as an object to be exploited, very often underlies violence against women. In this context, an increasing scourge is trafficking of women and girls, as well as various forms of prostitution. 3 Pope John Paul II, in a letter on the occasion of the International Conference on Twenty-First-Century Slavery the Human Rights Dimension to Trafficking in Human Beings, stated that human trafficking constitutes a shocking offense against human dignity and a grave violation of fundamental human rights. In particular, the sexual exploitation of women and children is a particularly repugnant aspect of this trade, and must be recognized as an intrinsic violation of human dignity and human rights. 4 The Catholic bishops of the United States and Mexico have also spoken out on the issue, calling upon the governments of the United States and Mexico to work together to apprehend traffickers and destroy trafficking networks: Both governments must vigilantly seek to end trafficking in human persons.... Together, both governments should more effectively share information on trafficking operations and should engage in joint action to apprehend and prosecute traffickers. 5 The USCCB Committee on Migration reaffirmed the commitment of the Catholic bishops of the United States to end this abominable practice: The Catholic Church... in the United States stands ready to work with our government to end this scourge. We cannot rest until trafficking in human persons is eliminated from the globe. 6

9 The Reality of Human Trafficking As many as 700,000 persons are trafficked globally each year men, women, and children. Survivors of human trafficking are commonly linked by poverty and lack of opportunity. They are also connected by their desperation and their perception of migration as an accessible escape route. Often they seek to escape life in an oppressive slum, with the hope of finding opportunity and a brighter future elsewhere. Combined with these economic root causes is a demand in developed nations for the services of the sex trade and forced labor. Human trafficking will never be truly defeated without eliminating the consumerism that feeds it and prosecuting those actors in receiving countries, including our own, that benefit because of the exploitation of vulnerable human beings. It is in this supply and demand global environment that human traffickers flourish, promising unsuspecting victims an opportunity to travel to a foreign land for employment and housing. At the end of the journey, they find coercion, abuse, entrapment, and exploitation in a brothel, a massage parlor, an illicit factory, or an agricultural outpost. By the time they are discovered, if ever, they are traumatized by physical, mental, and psychological abuse in the roles of prostitutes, domestic servants, or manual laborers. Many become ill with disease or become infected with HIV. Some lose their lives. This is not a problem that exists merely on faraway shores and in developing countries. It exists right here in the United States, where thousands of persons are trafficked each year for purposes of forced prostitution or forced labor. It is estimated that as many as 17,500 human beings each year are trafficked into the United States. Men, women, and children have been forced to work in prostitution and have been forced into different types of manual labor, without pay or protection. Trafficking in persons is a modern-day form of slavery, and it is the largest manifestation of slavery today. The Response to Human Trafficking The global community, including the United States, is only beginning to comprehend the scope and impact of the selling of human persons in the world. As a result, humane responses to this phenomenon have been slow, and education of the public lacking. New efforts involving the entire international community are necessary to eliminate the root causes of it, to offer proper care and attention to its survivors, and to bring its perpetrators to justice. In the United States, the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 provides an important framework for responding to human trafficking. Sadly, however, it has not been implemented in a fashion that effectively protects survivors or holds accountable nations that do not apprehend or prosecute traffickers. This legislation should be re-authorized, adequately funded, and aggressively implemented. 7 The federal government, in cooperation with state and local governments, should increase educational efforts so that all Americans become more aware of this problem. Similarly, emphasis should be placed on the recovery and care of victims and on providing them with legal protection and social services as soon as possible. This is particularly true for child trafficking victims, who are most susceptible to the long-term horrors of this crime. We call upon Congress to enact comprehensive immigration reform that would provide legal avenues for men, women, and their families to enter the country and work legally and safely. Undocumented persons eager to find work are easy prey for human traffickers. The U.S. government must also work with foreign governments to eradicate human trafficking networks. Over the long term, the global community must work together to reduce the factors that make persons vulnerable to traffickers, such as the lack of economic opportunity in migrantsending countries, especially for women. Call to Action As a global institution that is present in source nations as well as nations that serve as markets for human trafficking, the Catholic Church is well positioned to identify and rescue survivors of human trafficking. In fact, the Catholic Church provides important social services to survivors in the United States and around the world. Much more must be done. Catholics in our own country can help, particularly by educating fellow Catholics and others about the realities of this crime. Parishes can serve as a meeting place to discuss this issue and as a center for action to help identify survivors and provide them support. We call upon all Catholics to seek ways to assist dioceses and local governments in helping survivors. Catholics can also help educate fellow Catholics and others about the human consequences of this crime. Conclusion It is hard to imagine that, in the twenty-first century, fellow human beings could be exploited and forced to work in the sex industry and other industries. As Catholic bishops, we pledge to use the resources of the Church to help end this affliction. We also pledge to use our teaching authority to educate Catholics and others about human trafficking. Human trafficking is a horrific crime against the basic dignity and rights of the human person. All efforts must be expended to end it. In the end, we must work together Church, state, and community to eliminate the root causes and markets that permit traffickers to flourish; to make whole the survivors of this crime; and to ensure that, one day soon, trafficking in human persons vanishes from the face of the earth. Notes 1 Second Vatican Council, Gaudium et Spes, no. 27, in The Documents of Vatican II, ed. Walter M. Abbott (New York: America Press, 1966). 2 Pope John Paul II, Letter to Archbishop Jean-Louis Tauran on the Occasion of the International Conference on Twenty-First-Century Slavery the Human Rights Dimension in Trafficking in Human Beings, May 15, Archbishop Migliore, Rescuing Women from Abuse, Statement to 3rd Committee of the 60th session of the UN General Assembly on the item Implementation of the Outcome of the 4th World Conference on Women and of the Special Session of the General Assembly entitled Women 2000: Gender Equality, Development and Peace in the 21st Century, October 17, Pope John Paul II, Letter to Archbishop Jean-Louis Tauran. 5 Catholic Bishops of the United States and Mexico, Strangers No Longer: Together on the Journey of Hope (Washington, DC: USCCB, 2003), no Bishop Thomas Wenski, statement presented at the Press Conference on Launching of Anti-Trafficking Initiative in Central Florida, June 9, The USCCB has consistently advocated for changes to the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 to better protect child victims of trafficking and to ensure that all victims are more readily identified and provided with care.