Since 2015, February 8 has been designated as the International Day of Prayer and Awareness Against Human Trafficking. On February 8 we also remember Saint Josephine Bakhita, a victim of human trafficking and slavery.
On the eve of the feast of Saint Josephine Bakhita this year, Pope Francis greeted the delegation of organizers of the World Day of Prayer and Awareness Against Human Trafficking, encouraging them to continue “making victims and survivors your primary concern, listening to their stories, caring for their wounds and enabling them to make their voices heard in society at large. That is what it means to be ambassadors of hope, and it is my hope that during this Jubilee Year many others will follow your example.”
We asked Sister Bernadette Mary Reis, FSP, to share her experience working with other women religious in the group Talitha Kum which is the International Network of Consecrated Life Against Trafficking in Persons:
My first brush with human trafficking involved someone who frequented one of our book centers several decades ago. As time went on, some of the things this person would say left us sisters wondering what was going on. In the end, we discovered that this person had been brought to the United States to work as a domestic in the household of a diplomat.
While that might sound innocuous, some of the other details sounded the alarm: the person’s passport had been confiscated, the person did not have access to money, slept in a closet, was on call 24/7. Once we connected the dots, we were instrumental in helping the person achieve freedom.
The first part of this story is repeated millions of times throughout the world on a daily basis. In 2022, the United Nations reported that an estimated “50 million people were victims of modern slavery in any given day in 2021….” The majority are trafficked for sexual exploitation and other forms of forced labor. About 1 of every 150 people on earth is a victim of human trafficking.
Believe it or not, human trafficking is one of the most lucrative activities in the world. It is also constantly evolving. As Talitha Kum, the international network of women religious combatting human trafficking reports, “With the rapid evolution of technology, human trafficking methods have adapted, taking on new and more complex forms in the digital world. Due to the internet’s very nature, traffickers more easily avoid detection.”
On February 8 we remember Saint Josephine Bakhita, a victim of human trafficking and slavery, who eventually converted to Catholicism and became a Canossian sister. Pope Francis asks that we “remember the wrong she endured,…her strength, and her journey of liberation and rebirth to a new life.”
Since 2015, February 8 is also the International Day of Prayer and Awareness Against Human Trafficking. In his message in 2024 on this occasion, Pope Francis acknowledged the role the media plays. “The media, thanks also to courageous reporters, have brought to light modern forms of slavery,” he said.
Why would the Pope highlight the role of the media when there is so much being done directly to help victims get out of the situation and receive the care and shelter they need to heal and build a better life for themselves? Because the media can reach millions of people with the information needed to prevent someone from falling victim, or letting victims know who they can turn to for help. Think of the courageous producers of Sound of Freedom (which I encourage you to watch). Films like these have the potential of changing the culture driving human trafficking, that Pope Francis calls a “culture of indifference [that] tends to desensitize us.”
I am so grateful and proud of my community for helping to free the person we discovered had been trafficked. That experience left such a mark on me that as soon as I heard about Talitha Kum, and the wonderful work so many women religious are doing, I wanted to get involved. Over the years, I have contributed to their communication strategy, covered their work and other human trafficking stories for Vatican News, moderated panels…. Now, I am providing training and mentoring in communication to Talitha Kum members throughout the world. The Pauline Sisters in Italy published The Courage of Freedom: A Woman Escaped the Hell of Human Trafficking, which tells the story of Blessing Okoedion. The Paulines in Nigeria are also active in this area through our media apostolate.
So, how can you and I make a difference? By being responsive, as Pope Francis wrote last year, by “opening our lives and hearts to our sisters and brothers who even now are being bought and sold as slaves. It is never too late to take action.”
But for some people it is too late. As you’ve been reading this article, a woman has been sold on the sex market; someone’s organs have been harvested against their will; a child has been abducted to be trained as a soldier; a young person wanting a better future has been duped into taking a fictitious job on another continent, a priest or religious has been kidnapped for ransom.
I have found my niche in the fight against human trafficking. You can find yours, too. As one survivor said in a recent interview “No support is too little.”
Here are some suggestions:
- Contact Talitha Kum member organization or other counter human trafficking organization to discover how you can help.
- Inform yourself regarding the signs that someone may be the victim of trafficking. Listen to those around you, pick up on cues, in case you come in contact with someone who’s been trafficked, be on the watch.
- Discover how you can safely report human trafficking should the need arise.
- Contact your local, state and national government representatives to express your concern and ask what they are doing to address human trafficking.
Image by Michaela, at home in Germany from Pixabay
