Human Trafficking – How should Christians respond?

image by Luke Teague

Did you know that one million girls between the ages of five and 15 years enter the global sex industry every year? Or that 70% of the three million British people who go on ‘stag’ or ‘hen’ parties each year go overseas and often to cities such as Prague, which has deregulated its lap dancing clubs, or Bangkok which has a thriving sex industry? Are you aware that Catholic religious in Britain are involved in raising awareness about the issue of human trafficking and even running safe houses for women escaping from traffickers?

Well these are all things I learnt on Saturday at a day in Harrow titled, ‘Human Trafficking – How should Christians respond?’ Around 20 people from across London attended the event, hosted by the Sisters of St Mary of Namur. Those present heard how human trafficking and slavery are problems of global proportions, driven by poverty, unsafe migration, gender discrimination and the neglect of human rights standards. It is a crime that has risen to become the second most profitable transnational organised crime, after illegal arms trading and just ahead of the trade in illegal drugs. Tens of millions of people around the globe are enslaved in forced labour, bonded labour, sexual servitude and involuntary servitude at any given time.

The speaker on Saturday was Sr Patricia Mulhall, a Brigidine sister who has worked in the area of human trafficking since 2006 locally, nationally and internationally. Six years ago her congregation joined UNANIMA International – a non-governmental organisation set up by religious sisters whose programmes include human trafficking. Much work takes place at the United Nations headquarters in New York, where the religious and other members of civil society aim to educate and influence policymakers at the global level. In the UK, the Brigidines are part of TRAC (anti-trafficking awareness and campaigning). It has around 10 active member congregations, being hosted by the Sisters of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary at their Chigwell convent, and is currently working to set up a website with social network campaigning. The Brigidines also support the work of Medaille Trust, a charity founded to help women, young men and children who have been freed from human trafficking. It provides safe houses and offers opportunities for physical and psychological healing and rehabilitation, as well as raising awareness of the plight of the trafficked and campaigning on this issue.

Sr Patricia told how the profits of human trafficking are staggering. It is estimated that a woman who has been trafficked into forced prostitution can bring in anything between $75,000 and $250,000 a year for her ‘owner’ as part of what has become a $32 billion international industry. Children have been sold for the price of a television, and young women seeking a way out of poverty have responded to fake job advertisements and unknowingly been recruited into a life of sexual slavery and exploitation. On arrival at their destination, the trafficked person is usually physically confined, all personal documents such as passports and identity cards are taken from them and a life of abuse begins. Sr Patricia spoke of meeting Nepalese girls in Mumbai who had escaped from a hotel in India’s sex capital which was visited by thousands of men every day; and of meeting a Russian woman in a ‘safe house’ in Britain who thought she was coming to England as a language teacher to raise money for the university education of her own children, but was tricked into prostitution. Now she is free, but her family in Russia don’t want her to return home.

These and many other heartbreaking stories inspired the group to consider their next steps, but not before working through a theological reflection based on relevant readings from scripture. A reading of Matthew 10: 19-21, 26-27 led to discussion about the need to speak out, even when there is a personal cost involved. Everybody felt that trafficking could be happening in their local communities and it is important to look out for signs and act. A reading from Psalm 126 suggested that slavery is unacceptable to God and that there is an imperative for us to get involved in tackling human trafficking.

Several participants in the day who were school governors promised to look into policies at their schools regarding Internet and TV access, for it is known that many children of all ages are accessing sexualised material in their homes and more parental education is needed. Adrian Tobin, an Art teacher at Christ the King Sixth Form College in Lewisham, spoke of working with A2 Art students to create a life size slum dwelling with the aim of raising awareness of human trafficking.

“The design is loosely based on the Filipino shanty homes found along the Pasig River, which is biologically dead, and the students are collating ‘found’ materials to construct this artwork” he said. “The art students will be also creating a blog to document the artwork and their personal responses, which will display links to relevant anti-trafficking organisations” he added “and it is hoped this project can be an effective teaching and learning resource in the fight against human trafficking”.

People from St Joseph’s at Wealdstone – including one who is a street pastor - and Our Lady and St Thomas of Canterbury at Harrow on the Hill promised to raise awareness. One person from the Columban JPIC team said the Columbans would be interested in follow up on links with migration. In 1960, for example, sex workers in the Netherlands sex industry were largely Dutch, but now more than three quarters are immigrants from the global south and most are undocumented. Three Daughters of Charity present said they would be helping to strengthen Catholic networks involved in education work on human trafficking. Sr Judith Russi of the Sisters of St Mary of Namur in Harrow said: “The Community here and our lay associates are working with congregations internationally to support those working in the field and to raise awareness; the Sisters of St Mary of Namur in London are identifying their next steps which will include supporting the work of TRAC”.

For more information see: www.unanima-international.org/eng
www.medaille.co.uk

Song: www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0L7NH48BWE