Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Roma (Agenzia Fides)- “We wish to say to victims of human trafficking, women and children especially, we are on your side, you are no longer alone. We are fighting to free you from slavery”. This was stated by the participants at a Formation Seminar “Building a network: the prophetic work of women religious to fight human trafficking” who reaffirmed their commitment to help the victims of human trafficking.
The Seminar, sponsored by the Italian Union of Major Religious Superiors USMI and the American Embassy to the Holy See and held in Rome on 15 - 20 October to mark the 200th anniversary of the abolition of slavery, brought together some 33 women religious belonging to 25 different congregations who work in 26 countries against human trafficking and to assist the victims. Themes for discussion included: develop and strengthen mechanisms of networking and communication capacity among women religious fighting human trafficking TIP in countries of origin, transit and destination; offer participants the opportunity to share their methods and strategies of intervention with the presentation of reports from the individual countries; develop procedure and structures for communication to facilitate diffusion of successful practices of intervention; increase national and international capacity of the religious to tackle human trafficking with a multidisciplinary, political and strategic approach; offer women religious ulterior opportunities of professional training.
In the final statement, sent to Fides, the participants say “statistics show that there are 800 Congregations and one million Catholic Sisters in the world”. On this bases the International Network of Religious Against Trafficking In Persons (INRATIP) was created, a network of Catholic women religious who help the victims abuse and fight human trafficking. Sr Bernadette Sangma, of the Daughters of Maria Ausiliatrix, presented a brief overview of the regional networks of women religious operating in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe to fight the sad phenomenon, often working together with the International Organisation for Migration and other international bodies.
At the end of the Seminar Mgr. Pietro Parolin, under secretary for relations with states at the Secretary of State, thanked the participants and confirmed the Holy See's commitment to work to combat human trafficking and to help the victims: “This is a crucial question and the Holy See fully supports those who fight against this trafficking which destroys not only women but also families all over the world”.
The Sisters present came from the following countries Albania, Croatia, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Ukraine, Belgium, France, Germany, Spain, Holland, Italy, United Kingdom, Canada, Mexico, United States Colombia, Peru, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Australia, India, Indonesia and Thailand. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 22/10/2007 righe 39 parole 506)
