VATICAN CITY (CNS): By partnering with law enforcement agencies, the Catholic Church and other organisations can help victims identify human traffickers and bring them to justice.
“The Catholic Church has a huge role to play with 1.1 billion Catholics across the world. With their networks they can make (society) hostile to traffickers and be safe havens for victims,” said a young British woman who was tricked into prostitution in Italy.
The woman, who goes by the pseudonym Sophie Hayes for her protection, was one of a number of speakers at a Vatican conference on combating human trafficking on May 8.
Organised by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales and hosted by the pontifical councils for Justice and Peace and for Migrants and Travellers, the meeting brought together ambassadors, bishops and representatives from religious orders, Caritas organisations and law enforcement agencies involved in fighting human trafficking.
According to the United Nations, human trafficking – a modern-day form of slavery – is now the second most profitable global criminal activity after the illegal arms trade and it’s estimated that more than 2.4 million men, women and children are ensnared by traffickers worldwide.
Detective Inspector Kevin Hyland of Scotland Yard’s trafficking and organised crime unit said a new partnership between the British bishops’ conference and the police already has yielded results.
After an anti-trafficking conference hosted by the bishops in London last December, Scotland Yard was able to break up a Filipino human trafficking ring, he said.
