We exclude no one from our concern,
but are especially sensitive to youth and women, and are impelled to prefer the poor. (SSND constitution) |
HUMAN TRAFFICKING: MODERN DAY SLAVERY
The School Sisters of Notre Dame are ardent advocates of human dignity and basic human rights. They are very concerned about the trafficking of women and children, a modern form of slavery and an international attack on human rights and human dignity.
Educational Workshops
As part of SSND efforts to educate people about trafficking, Sisters and Associates have organized workshops for various groups throughout Canada. Write-ups have appeared in the Catholic Register (March 11, 2005), the Prairie Messenger (April 19, 2006). and The Record (June 7, 2006).
The Extent of the Problem
700,000 to 2 million women and children are trafficked across borders each year. International trafficking is a significant human rights problem and a gruesome crime affecting men, women and children.
“Trafficking in women reaps greater economic gain than drugs, a significant factor in their exploitation. How mind-boggling is it to you to discover how far reaching and extensive is this practice of trafficking in women?” (Canadian Religious Conference, Ontario )
Learn more about Human Trafficking
There are several resources that we as a community offer through our SHALOM network in North America and at the international level.
There are many other resources available as well. Here are a few links to some of them.
United Nations resources: Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons Especially Women
and Children, and supporting materials to help raise awareness: multimedia and non-sale publications.
The Canadian Department of Justice has information about the trafficking of persons on their website. A poster is also available from them to help increase awareness of the issue among Canadians. "
The Government of Canada is working to combat trafficking in persons both domestically and internationally.
" read more
CBC has reported on trafficking at various times as in this indepth crime report from April 13, 2006: “Human smuggling/trafficking: The trade in people” read more
“Majumdar has brought me to Svay Pak to show the scale of the child-sex trade, and he knows that children as young as four are available but kept hidden by their pimps in an attempt to avoid police raids. ... ” So writes Susan McClelland reporting on a thriving child-sex trade in Cambodia . Macleans ran the article “Sad little girls” in the November 24, 2003 issue. read more
“There are more slaves today than were seized from Africa in four centuries of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. The modern commerce in humans rivals illegal drug trafficking in its global reach?and in the destruction of lives.” The article “21 st Century Slaves” ran in National Geographic, September 2003. read more
Even Oprah deals with the issue and has information on her website: read more
Free the Slaves website: “Slavery exists in many different forms around the world. Two characteristics make most slavery today different from slavery in the past: slaves today are cheap and they are disposable.” read more
iAbolish.com, an anti-slavery portal: “Slave labor produces goods we use every day. Examples include: sugar from the Dominican Republic , chocolate from the Ivory Coast , paper clips from China , carpets from Nepal , and cigarettes from India .”read more
What needs to be done to combat modern-day slavery?
- We need to educate ourselves about it so that we can be advocates for those trapped into the global sex trade, sexual exploitation and the many other forms of slavery alive today.
- Analyze and work at changing the root causes: economic globalization, extreme poverty and attitudes that fail to see each man, woman and child as a person with dignity and worth.
- Officers of the law and health professionals need to identify and respond appropriately to victims of gender-based violence.
- Pray for the victims trapped into slavery. Pray for the victimizers. Pray that we may all come to recognize, reverence and uphold the dignity and rights of each person.
Looking for more information? Contact S. Theresa Nagle. |
