Nuns vow to dismantle human trafficking networks
Talitha Kum plans also to strengthen its effort to reduce the risk of survivors being re-trafficked and exploited again and again
A network of Catholic nuns and their collaborators have launched a world-wide campaign to take on the $150-billion second criminal human trafficking industry.
The "Talitha Kum," network of women religious under the direction of the International Union of Superiors General (UISG) is to help nearly 40 million people trapped in modern day slavery, through their “The Care Against Trafficking” campaign ahead of World Day against Trafficking in Persons July 30.
Talitha Kum will use its Twitter, Instagram and Facebook accounts to promote the initiative.
With the hashtag #CareAgainstTrafficking, Talitha Kum plans to strengthen its effort to eradicate human trafficking, described “an open wound on the body of contemporary society” by Pope Francis way back in 2014.
The campaign is aimed at providing “care for those at risk, care for victims, and care for survivors”.
According to a statement by the network, “long-term, care-centered approaches can reduce the risk of survivors being re-trafficked and exploited again and again.”
What the sisters need is the “holistic support at an institutional level,” said Sister Gabriella Bottani, Talitha Kum International Coordinator, Vatican News reported.
“We call on all people of good will to come together and tackle the systemic causes of human trafficking, to transform the economy of trafficking into an economy of care.”
Many victims are exploited for labor, for sex work, for the profitable organ trade, the Talitha Kum statement read.
Labor trafficking, which lacks awareness, is believed to be much larger than sex trafficking conducted by organized criminal syndicates.
The victims are lied to, threatened, and manipulated to work under inhumane and unacceptable conditions for less money. This business model “of stealing freedom for profit” ensures good returns for traffickers, the nuns said.
Many work in construction, hotels and hospitality, landscaping, illicit activities, arts and entertainment, cleaning services, factories and manufacturing, to name a few.
Due to the underground nature of their business model, traffickers often stay one step ahead of law enforcing agencies.
Countering oppression and exploitation
Talitha Kum is committed to “dismantling the systems that enable their oppression and exploitation,” said Sister Patricia Murray, executive secretary at UISG.
“In 2020, Talitha Kum networks worldwide cared for 17,000 survivors of human trafficking,” the statement said.
Almost 170,000 people “benefited from prevention and awareness-raising activities organized by Talitha Kum,” active in 90 countries with 50 networks, it added.
In Pattaya, Thailand, one of the main destinations of sexual tourism, sisters from Talitha Kum offer training in the wellness industry to young women, who were earlier part of the country’s thriving commercial sex racket.
The aim is to impart a dignified employment, according to the sisters.
“We need to transform the economy of trafficking into an economy of care that will allow everyone, especially women to promote thriving and safe communities,” said Sister Bottani.
“We will not remain in silence as people in every corner of the world suffer as a result of it,” the Comboni missionary said.
Pope Francis has stressed on an “economy without human trafficking” -- the theme for this year -- in a video message on the occasion of the 7th International Day of Prayer and Reflection against Trafficking in Persons February 8.
The lucrative business of human trafficking has become more rewarding for traffickers with globalization.
The internet has become more helpful to facilitate the trafficking of individuals.
Trafficking in persons “finds fertile ground in the approach of neo-liberal capitalism and the deregulation of markets aimed at maximizing without ethical limits, without social limits and without environmental limits,” Pope Francis said.
As the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on family income, traffickers came out with fraudulent offers to lure vulnerable families, noted a US State Department report.
The 2021 Trafficking in Persons Report said nearly 25 million people worldwide are victims of sex trafficking.
“We need to work together, share information, hold each other accountable” Antony Blinken, the US Secretary of State said releasing the report July 1
Human trafficking is thriving due to a growing demand for cheap labor, enabling criminal syndicates to exploit hapless poor workers for profit.