On Feb. 8, the Feast Day of Saint Josephine Bakhita, we invite you to join us around the world in the International Day of Prayer and Awareness Against Human Trafficking. Download the prayer service from the U.S. Catholic Sisters Against Human Trafficking (USCSAHT) or download the Prayer for an End to Human Trafficking by Sister Gen Cassani, SSND.
Trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery. Each year, an estimated 700,000 to 1.5 million people worldwide fall victim to international traffickers. These victims, predominately women and children, are forced into unpaid labor, debt bondage, coerced prostitution or sexual servitude, often under the direction of international organized crime rings. The trafficking of human beings is the third largest source of profit for international organized crime, after drugs and arms, with revenue amounting to billions of dollars each year.
School Sisters of Notre Dame, committed to work actively to eliminate the root causes of injustices, have responded to this problem in a number of ways and made the struggle against trafficking one of their priorities.
Saint Josephine Bakhita was a Sudanese-born former slave who became a Canossian religious sister in Italy, living and working there for 45 years. At the request of women religious, in 2015 the Vatican declared her feast day, February 8 as the first international day for prayer and reflection on human trafficking.