Human Trafficking is Slavery

Human trafficking is modern slavery. It is “being deceived or taken against your will, bought, sold and transported into slavery for sexual exploitation or forced labor through the use of force, fraud, or coercion.” Human trafficking is the third largest crime in the world and one of the fastest growing in many communities across the United States. More than one million victims are affected each year.

Trafficked persons can be men, women and children of all ages and levels of education and ethnicity. People are trafficked for domestic service, commercial sexual exploitation, marriage, factory work, begging, agricultural labor, restaurant work, construction, janitorial work, and other forms of informal labor. Trafficking is a crime that strips people of their rights, ruins their dreams, and robs them of their dignity.

The Weekend of Prayer mobilizes persons to pray and become aware of the issue. Weekend events include individual prayer at noon on Friday, January 11; an Emancipation Rally in Washington DC on January 12; and prayers at churches, synagogues, temples and other places of worship on January 13. The prayer focuses on victims, survivors and perpetrators (who are creating and feeding the demand) as well as those working to rescue and restore the victims.

School Sisters of Notre Dame are involved in local, national, and international efforts to address human trafficking through education, advocacy and other efforts. Join the Weekend of Prayer (www.weekendofprayer.net). Learn what you can do to address the realities of human trafficking in your community. Together we can transform the world through education.