Catholic Teaching on Human Trafficking

Pope Benedict XVI - Message for the World Day of Migration (2006): [T]rafficking in human beings - especially women ... flourishes where opportunities to improve their standard of living or even to survive are limited. It becomes easy for the trafficker to offer his own "services" to the victims, who often do not even vaguely suspect what awaits them. In some cases there are women and girls who are destined to be exploited almost like slaves in their work, and not infrequently in the sex industry, too." Though I cannot here closely examine the analysis of the consequences of this aspect of migration, I make my own the condemnation voiced by John Paul II against "the widespread hedonistic and commercial culture which encourages the systematic exploitation of sexuality." (Letter of Pope John Paul II to Women, 1995, 5). Statements from Papal and Vatican documents - Click Here Vatican Sponsored Conferences Joining the Fight Against Modern Day Slavery October 26, 2005 The First International Meeting of Pastoral Care for the Liberation of Women of the Street June 20-21, 2005 Related Documentation Catholic Church Fights Human Trafficking & Slavery Roman Catholic Church Teaching on Slavery Slavery and the Catholic Church   United States Conference of Catholic Bishops "Trafficking in persons–in which men, women, and children from all over the globe are transported to other countries for the purposes of forced prostitution or labor–inherently rejects the dignity of the human person and exploits conditions of global poverty." (90) USCCB, Strangers No Longer: Together on the Journey of Hope (2003) Related Documentation Testimony before the House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights, and International Operations March 9, 2005 Stop Trafficking of People: An Introductory Resource http://www.nccbuscc.org/mrs/stoptraffick.pdf Documentation - United States 2006 Report on Human Trafficking - United States Government http://usinfo.state.gov/gi/global_issues/human_trafficking.html Department of Justice Resources on Human Trafficking http://www.humantraffickingconference.com/resources.htm Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/10492.pdf Documentation - United Nations 2004 Policy Paper United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations http://www.un.org/womenwatch/news/documents/ DPKOHumanTraffickingPolicy03-2004.pdf United Nations Treaty Traffic in Persons http://untreaty.un.org/ENGLISH/bible/englishinternetbible/partI/ chapterVII/chapterVII.asphttp://iyp.oxfam.org/documents/Chapter%204%20Traffiking.pdf The United Nations response to trafficking in women and girls http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/egm/trafficking2002/reports/WP-DAW.PDF Resource Collections Abolition of Slavery United Nations Resources http://www.un.org/depts/dhl/slavery/ Gender and Women's Issues United Nations Directory of Resources http://www.un.org/womenwatch/asp/user/list.asp?ParentID=10312 Trafficking in Human Beings United Nations Institute for Training and Research http://www.unitarny.org/en/trafficking.html Documentation - Other Trafficking Human Beings: New Approaches to Combating the Problem Department on International Labour Standards and Human Rights (NORMES) Europe and Asia Organizations Catholic Coalition Against Human Trafficking http://www.nccbuscc.org/mrs/traffickingweb3.shtml Global Human Trafficking http://www.humantrafficking.org/ Rescue & Restore Victims of Human Trafficking http://www.acf.hhs.gov/trafficking/ Stop the Traffik http://www.stopthetraffik.org/default.aspx University of Washington Women’s Center http://depts.washington.edu/womenctr/programs/trafficking.html Initiative Against Sexual Trafficking http://www.iast.net/ProstitutionSexTrafficking.htm Project to Combat Trafficking in Children and Women http://www.ilo.org/public/english/region/asro/bangkok/child/trafficking/ Bibliography (Coming Soon) Speakers (Coming Soon)