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Ukraine – a Hunting Ground for Traffickers

Human trafficking occurs in every country in the world and the war in Ukraine is not just a battleground – it is a hunting ground for human traffickers. The uprooting of many people and the creation of refugees make a war zone ideal for recruitment into slavery.

According to Michael O’Neill, former Chair of the International NGO Safety and Security Association, “The predators are well-organized, well-resourced, and relentless.” Defeating the traffickers, or at least slowing them down, depends on educating the refugees. Too often refugees have no idea of the dangers they face from traffickers while at the same time being exceptionally vulnerable to them.

Here’s what too often happens: A young woman fleeing Ukraine may be weighed down with multiple fears, including that she: Doesn’t have a place to stay; doesn’t speak the language; is afraid for her husband’s life; is separated from her family and what was once her support system; has lost all her material possessions. Additionally, she’s exhausted from a 22-hour trip. She is now the perfect target for a seemingly kindly stranger who offers her a hot meal and a place to stay. Unfortunately, that “kindly” stranger may whisk her away to another country where she may disappear forever into the sex trade.

Also, members of trafficking rings target relief organizations. They know that if they manage to be accepted as a volunteer, they’ll have inside information on who is vulnerable and how to get to them.

Sex trafficking is not a new phenomenon in Ukraine, a country long-known as a hub for transnational organized crime syndicates involved in all manner of black-market illicit activity.

“But it has exploded since Russia invaded” in February, according to Mariya Dmytriyeva, a Kyiv-based women’s rights advocate for the Democracy Development Center, an NGO that works on the development of civil society and state of law in Ukraine.

Dmytriyeva said the many criminal mafias in and around Ukraine flock to sex trafficking because of the lax attitude toward it among authorities. The pimps, hustlers and crime syndicates responsible for it are rarely arrested and almost never prosecuted. And there are far more lenient penalties for those who are than for drug trafficking and other serious crimes.

“We know that organized crime is using this because it is much easier to sell a girl than to sell a bunch of cocaine,” she said. “And there is this famous saying here that you can sell a kilo of cocaine only one time, but you can sell a 12-year-old girl until she dies.”
In the nearly three months since Russia’s invasion, the signs of sex trafficking have been everywhere, officials and experts report.

In Ukraine itself, hundreds of women and girls have reported experiencing sexual violence, including rape, to the country’s officials who work for human rights.

Russian soldiers – and even some opportunistic taxi drivers – are suspected of facilitating the trafficking of women and girls or forcing them to flee into Russia where they fall prey to organized crime syndicates who exploit them, according to other advocates on the ground.

In neighboring countries Poland, Moldova, Romania, Slovakia and Hungary, where most Ukrainians initially landed, reports of suspected trafficking have spiked. An unknown number of the more than two million who have made it to points beyond also have been victimized, according to recent reports by the United Nations, the OSCE and numerous advocacy and humanitarian groups.

To help address the issue, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Ukraine, has scaled up the work of the National Migrant Advice and Counter-Trafficking Hotline 527, by extending opening hours, doubling the number of advisers and offering reliable and updated information on a wide range of topics. The hotline, which can be accessed from within Ukraine, has already provided over 12,000 consultations to over 2,400 callers received from 24 February to 16 March only, which is 60 percent more compared to the same period last year. More than half of the people calling are newly displaced persons. The hotline provides verified information on rights and obligations related to the current procedures of border crossing, services within Ukraine and neighboring countries, work of border-crossing points, safe travel and countering human trafficking.

The IOM-supported National Migrant Advice and Counter-Trafficking Hotline can be reached in Ukraine at 527 (free from mobile phones) or at 0 800 505 501 (free from landline phones) from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Those staying abroad can reach hotline consultants at 527.hotline@gmail.com.
Exploiting the turmoil

La Strada International, a consortium of dozens of advocacy groups, research, conducted over the past two months, found that unaccompanied children, undocumented people and those who might not have access to the temporary protection offered in European Union countries face the greatest danger.
“And the dangers will grow as the war continues, with more people becoming displaced within Ukraine, making access to services and livelihoods increasingly precarious, while millions of refugees will need to settle for longer periods in other European countries and start accessing the labor market,” the La Strada report said. ~ submitted by Karol Brewer, Guadalupe Province Action and Advocacy Coalition

 

 

 

Join Catholic Sisters in Praying and Working to End Human Trafficking


~ by Gail DeGeorge, Global Sisters Report

The fight against human trafficking continues, 15 years after the United States designated January 11 as National Human Trafficking Awareness Day in 2007, and January as National Human Trafficking Prevention Month in 2010.

Catholic sisters around the world are deeply committed to ending the scourge of modern-day slavery. Through regional organizations, such as the U.S. Catholic Sisters Against Human Trafficking and Rome-based Talitha Kum, initiated by the International Union of Superiors General as a “network of networks” active in five continents coordinating efforts of congregations in 60 or more networks, sisters work to raise awareness, aid and rehabilitate victims, and lobby for stricter laws and enforcement.
The Global Sisters Report (GRS) reflects these efforts in their coverage of sisters’ ministries and work related to human trafficking. They also take opportunities to help raise awareness through other venues. The GSR in the Classroom curriculum, for instance, offers six lessons about human trafficking. GSR correspondent Soli Salgado, who has reported extensively about human trafficking, produced a special video presentation for the annual California Ministry Conference Hope, Heal, Renew, sponsored by eight dioceses and archdioceses from California, Nevada and Hawaii. The 2021 conference was a virtual gathering held November. 4-6.
The hourlong segment, entitled, “Migrating Toward Exploitation: Why Migrants Are Susceptible to Human Trafficking, and How Sisters Are Helping,” featured an explanatory introduction, plus interviews with Sr. Sally Duffy, a Sister of Charity of Cincinnati who is involved with migration and trafficking issues, and Jennifer Reyes Lay, executive director of U.S. Catholic Sisters Against Human Trafficking.

There are also other official days to commemorate trafficking victims and efforts to raise awareness and stop human trafficking. February 8 is the feast day of St. Josephine Bakhita, who was born in Sudan and sold into slavery and taken to Italy where she eventually joined the Canossian Sisters. February 8 is a World Day of Prayer, Reflection, and Action against Human Trafficking, designated by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and the International Union of Superiors General. The theme for this year’s day of prayer is “The Power of Care – Women, Economics, Human Trafficking.”

In addition, the United Nations observes the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons on July 30.

While much of the attention of anti-trafficking is on women and children who are trafficked and abused, there is also growing attention to the labor trafficking and workers who are exploited.

There can never be enough attention to the issue of human trafficking, or the efforts by Catholic sisters and others to help women, children and vulnerable adults avoid becoming victims of trafficking, or assisting those who are already caught in the trap. So, this day, this month, February 8th and every day take time to pray and add your efforts to the cause to stop human trafficking.
To read the complete article, please click here

The Missionary Sisters of the Guadalupe Province have a Corporate Stance on Human Trafficking.
To learn more please click here and here to download a PDF of the Corporate Stance brochure.

Anti-trafficking Advocates Warn that Pandemic is Increasing Human Trafficking

~ by Chris Herlinger, Global Sisters Report

Those involved in efforts to end human trafficking fear that the global pandemic and resulting lockdowns are increasing the numbers of people forced into human trafficking.

“The broad upshot is that we need to brace ourselves for 2021 and expect a huge increase in the number of people affected” by trafficking, Luke de Pulford, director of the U.K.-based anti-trafficking organization Arise, said during a Dec. 2 webinar by the Catholic Sisters Initiative of the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation.

“We don’t know how bad the damage is yet,” de Pulford told the Global Sisters Report (GSR), “but when the statistics come in they are going to be deeply shocking and troubling.”

Those being lured into trafficking work – be it slave labor or sexual trafficking – are those “already struggling” and at risk due to poverty, Sr. Jane Wakahiu, Associate Vice President of Program Operations of Hilton’s Catholic Sisters initiative.

“COVID has exacerbated a dramatic increase in unemployment, reduced or loss of income for individuals working in informal or low wage sectors which leads to vulnerability, and at-risk individuals find themselves in precarious circumstances, Sr. Wakahiu told GSR.

In his presentation, de Pulford cited some grim realities:

In October, the World Bank said that global poverty is expected to rise in 2020, with the COVID-19 pandemic “estimated to push an additional 88 to 115 million people into extreme poverty this year.

“The principal underlying cause of human trafficking is poverty and the search for better economic opportunities. Prevention is impeded not just by levels of poverty itself but by a series of vulnerabilities, including armed conflict and migration, homelessness, disabilities, lack of supportive families, and racial and ethnic prejudice.”

Another concern, de Pulford said is the mass movement of people – with “lockdowns and business closures [prompting] millions of workers to try to return to their homes. Not all of the newly unemployed reach home. Many turn to illegal means to sustain themselves.”

Child trafficking is also likely increasing, de Pulford said, “with alarming trends indicating that worse is to come.” That is because an estimated 42 to 66 million more children “could fall into extreme poverty and nearly 1.5 billion children around the world have been kept away from school for three months under national lockdowns.”

“The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation supports Catholic sisters in the fight against human trafficking because sisters have taken a strategic leadership stance and pooled their efforts to create an international network of consecrated life against trafficking in persons,” said Sr. Wakahiu. “Sisters have not only demonstrated their capability but are in the frontline supporting in prevention, protection, prayer and rehabilitation of survivors. Survivors need a variety of support, including psychological, healthcare, spiritual, and connections to employment. Sisters recognize every person’s dignity; they don’t judge but walk with the individual in their journeys of healing and wholeness.”

To read the entire article click here

To learn more about the Cabrinian efforts to combat human-trafficking, click here and here

To access a PDF with the Missionary Sisters Guadalupe Province Corporate Stance on Anti-Human Trafficking. Click here

From Liberty to Captivity

On March 13th, Cabrini University, in collaboration with the Cabrini Action and Advocacy Coalition (CAAC), hosted a premier film debut which places an intensive focus on sex trafficking in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Faculty, staff, students, alumni and community members “walked the red carpet” to attend this special screening.

From Liberty to Captivity, explores the tragic reality of sex trafficking through the stories of victim survivors and abolitionists fighting to end this crime against humanity. Woven into the film is a message of justice and hope for the future. Reflecting on the powerful effect of the abolitionists in the 19th century, this film documents one state’s fight for freedom from slavery.

With its proverbial lens, From Liberty To Captivity zooms-in on Pennsylvania’s booming and profitable sex trafficking industry, which is threatening to destroy the principle of “liberty and justice for all”. This feature-length film reveals the reality and complexities of sex trafficking crimes and this social justice issue and present the very real hope of conquering it.

Cabrini Action and Advocacy Coalition Co-Sponsors Anti-Human Trafficking Symposium

The Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus hold a Corporate Stance against Human Trafficking, which states, “the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus stand in solidarity with the victims of human trafficking.  We condemn the use of violence, abduction, fraud, deception, coercion, or debt bondage to transport women and children from their homes for prostitutions, sexual exploitation, forced labor and/or real or virtual slavery.”  In the words of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “It is a sin against the dignity of persons and their fundamental rights that would reduce them by violence to their productive value or to a source of profit.” [Read more…]

CAAC holds sale to benefit victims of human trafficking

In recent years, Americans have grown increasingly aware of human trafficking – a modern day form of slavery. The victims of this crime suffer greatly – victims ranging from children to young teens and mature individuals, are sold into prostitution, hard labor, or both. Feeling hopeless, they can lose their sense of optimism and self worth.

Anti-human trafficking organizations and support networks have been created in response to the spread of human trafficking. Through the support these organizations provide many victims of this heinous crime have found solace and a fresh outlook on life. In turn, trafficking survivors have the opportunity to share their stories and join in the effort to save others.

Sale 3 IMG_7878One such advocacy organization is Dawn’s Place, a shelter in our area, – a sanctuary, really, – for women who have fallen victim to human trafficking and sexual exploitation. Their staff members provide these women with a home-like environment where they are accompanied in their transition back into society.

The Cabrini Action and Advocacy Coalition (CAAC), with its Cabrini Closet initiative, has worked to provide stylish, contemporary clothing for victims of human trafficking. Concerned and generous individuals have donated new and gently used clothing, household items and gift cards to CAAC to enable the Coalition to assist organizations in helping these victims to recover. Many victims of human trafficking, at the time they are rescued, have nothing but the clothes on their backs.

To enhance their ability to assist these shelters and sanctuaries, the Cabrini Action and Advocacy Coalition recently hosted a sale at Cabrini College, where Coalition members and volunteers sold donated designer purses, belts, shoes, scarves, and jewelry to help fund CAAC’s efforts.

The CAAC chairperson and sale coordinator, Karol Brewer, with the help of her coalition members Cassie Woestman and Ruby Remley, said that the funds raised were beyond their expectations. They were grateful that so many people, who had no particular affiliation to the Coalition or to the College, attended the sale. While they were on campus, visitors asked members enjoyed being able to educate others on the issue, as well as their work, all while raising money to continue their efforts.

Since the Cabrini Closet’s resources are often called upon in times of emergencies, Karol says it is “a good feeling to [be able to] fulfill those needs right away.” CAAC will donate a a portion of the sale’s proceeds to the women’s shelter Dawn’s Place.

Cabrini Action and Advocacy Coalition Hosts Sale to Benefit Victims

When we hear the words human trafficking we think of the horrors foreign women and children go through in their countries. From rape, to torture, to prostitution, and even death. But what not many people are aware of is that human trafficking is a practice common not just in poorer countries but in wealthy countries like the U.S. Human trafficking is not just the dark and dingy picture portrayed in films. American children and young adults being forced into prostitution and into working for someone else’s profit is human trafficking. The King of Prussia Mall, located in suburban Philadelphia, and many other malls, and concerts and sporting events in the U.S. are playgrounds for traffickers. They target runaways and vulnerable young people.

Cabrini freshman, Christian Vazquez, had a basic understanding of human trafficking from learning about it at his high school, but he admits that he was not aware of how close to home this occurrence is. Because of the assumed “…tough laws…” that the U.S. has, many Americans like Christian have no idea that human trafficking is an international occurrence and not just another misfortune third world citizens have to endure.

Thankfully, the Cabrinian community continues spreading awareness on social justice issues and providing for those in need. The Cabrini Action and Advocacy Coalition is an MSC ministry that promulgates the MSC’s two corporate stances: to SUPPORT the rights and dignity of all immigrants and STOP human trafficking once and for all.

“The coalition was formed to do whatever we [could] to stop human trafficking,” current chairman, Karol Brewer explains. Karol began her work with the Cabrini Action and Advocacy Coalition many years ago, and because of her dedication to helping the most vulnerable, the MSCs asked her to chair this initiative.

Karol is also the founder of The Cabrini Closet, “a trendy Goodwill” — as I call it — which specializes in providing human trafficking victims with new and contemporary attire to better accommodate them in their transition into society once again. She began this work after forming a friendship with an FBI agent who worked solely with trafficking victims and hearing the stories of what these people go through. “We have to do something — we can do something!” Karol recalled telling herself. So she took matters into her own hands and thought: “Why not do this on our own?” And so, The Closet was created!

To further spread the word on The Closet and promote awareness as well as support for Human Trafficking and its victims, the Cabrini Action and Advocacy Coalition will be hosting a sale to raise funds for the cause. The sale will take place on Wednesday, March 16th in the College’s Grace Hall Atrium from 10:00 am-3:00 pm. (See flyer on page 6.) They will be selling designer purses, shoes, belts, and many more items, which were donated to The Closet by generous people from all over the country. These items will be sold at reasonable prices.

Karol has reached out to top designers to ask them to donate at least one of their bags. She has sent out about 15 requests to designers ranging from Michael Kors to Ralph Lauren and even Coach. She is still waiting for replies but is hoping at least one agrees. Being as though this is the first fundraiser the coalition has hosted, she expressed her nervousness for the turnout of the sale. But she was enthused about the Cabrini community and their support of the cause. Though she admits that it is a lot of work, Karol finds it all to be exceptionally “gratifying…[and] wonderful that [we] get to do this.”

All proceeds will go directly towards the Coalition to provide funds and gift cards for trafficking victims, and to Dawn’s Place, a shelter in Southeastern Pennsylvania for women who are victims of human trafficking and sexual abuse.Trafficking - SKU number

Advocacy Day – Anti Human Trafficking

The Cabrini Action and Advocacy Coalition joined with advocates from all over Pennsylvania at the Capitol Building in Harrisburg on Tuesday, June 9th, to visit legislators to discuss Senator Greenleaf and Senator Leach’s upcoming Safe Harbor Bill to protect minors who have been trafficked.

Trafficking 6What does Safe Harbor do?

S.B. 851 would require law enforcement to report to the Department of Human Services any encounter with a minor who has been subject to sexual exploitation.  The Department will develop and implement a state-wide protocol to deliver safe long-term housing, education, life-skills training, and counseling to the children who have been exploited.  The bill would require that police be trained to identify and assist sexually exploited children.  Most importantly, the bill would require that sexually exploited children be diverted from the criminal justice system to more appropriate human services.

Senator Daylin Leach (shown at podium) said, “There is no such thing as a child prostitute. There are only victims and survivors of child rape. S.B. 851 would establish a non-punitive response for juvenile sex-trafficking victims, and provide them with support to address their trauma and specialized services, which would be partially funded through enhanced penalties for traffickers, facilitators, and patrons of prostitution wherein the victim was a minor. Juveniles involved in sex-trafficking are already considered crime victims under international and federal law. Pennsylvania must advance anti-human trafficking reforms such as this legislation to protect these innocent children.”

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