From February 2-8, the Catholic Church holds a week dedicated to bringing awareness to the ongoing polemic of human trafficking. According to U.S. Department of State, an estimated 27 million people are trafficked around the world—yet many people are unaware that this is still happening today.
BLESSING OKOEYEDON
Human Trafficking Survivor
We close our eyes to this dramatic phenomenon because we think it can never happen to us. Why? Because we think we live in a beautiful world, but unfortunately that's not the case. Human trafficking is a really evident, current phenomenon.
In 2015, Pope Francis instituted the international Day of Prayer and Awareness Against Human Trafficking to bring the urgent need to end this form of slavery to the forefront.
POPE FRANCIS
Trafficking constitutes an unjustifiable violation of the freedom and dignity of victims, the constitutive dimension of the human being willed and created by God. It must therefore be considered a crime against humanity. Without a doubt, without a doubt.
The largest organization of religious sisters in the world, the International Union of Superiors General, is bringing a delegation of 50 people—including volunteers, students and activists—from every continent to Rome to participate in various training and awareness sessions.
The week will end on the day against Human Trafficking on February 8. More than 50 countries will come together for an Online Pilgrimage of prayer, which will cross all time zones and continents. It will begin in Oceania at 9:30am and end in North American at 4:30pm.
KG
