As a member of COATNET (Christian Organisations Against Trafficking NETwork), Caritas invites you to participate in the 9th edition of the International Day of Prayer and Awareness Against Human Trafficking on the 8th February 2023. The day marks the feast of Saint Josephine Bakhita, a Sudanese woman who was sold into slavery, abused but later freed. Together with COATNET and the Talitha Kum Network, Caritas will host an online Marathon of Prayer on this year’s theme “Journeying in dignity” which calls us to journey in dignity against human trafficking by keeping as a horizon the dignity of every person and leaving no one behind. This day of prayer day invites us all to explore the world of trafficking and the suffering it inflicts on millions of people. It is an opportunity to learn about what trafficking means and explore its material, mental and spiritual impact on individuals and societies, to take that first step in the fight against trafficking.
Human trafficking is the modern-day term for slavery. Women, children, and men are bought and sold, beaten, abused, and sometimes killed as they are traded like commodities on the invisible trafficking markets worldwide. Globally, over 70 percent of detected victims of human trafficking are women and girls, while nearly one-third are children. The share of children among detected trafficking victims has tripled, while the share of boys has increased five times over the past 15 years. Existing and emerging conflicts (including, but not limited to, Ukraine, Syria, Yemen, Eritrea, and others) have caused trafficking to evolve dramatically. Moreover, as recalled during the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons on 30th July 2022, due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the shift of our everyday life to online platforms with the global expansion in technology, human trafficking has conquered even cyberspace.
In the past, victims were searched mainly in the field of sex work engaging women, modern slavery also involves men and children in sectors like housemaids, farmers, factory and sweatshop workers, beggars, pickpockets, in a vicious circle where victims risk to be punished or prosecuted for acts they commit as a direct consequence of being trafficked. In 2018 about 50,000 human trafficking victims were detected and reported by 148 countries: 50 percent were trafficked for sexual exploitation, and 38 percent were exploited for forced labour.
As highlighted by Pope Francis, trafficking today can be considered an adaptation to or distortion of macroeconomic gaps that characterize globalization. Social injustice, uneven distribution of wealth, and lack of opportunities all contribute to the displacement of people in search of meaning for their lives and accepting dangerous proposals. More than 40 Caritas Member Organisations fight around the world against human trafficking. Caritas believes that the first step towards beating trafficking is to raise global awareness of how it dehumanizes people and to take this knowledge to the level of action.
Join us on the 8th of February in our online Marathon of Prayer here.