“Human trafficking is an open wound on the body of contemporary society, a scourge upon the body of Christ. It is a crime against humanity.” — Pope Francis, April 10, 2014

The United Nations Protocol on Human Trafficking defines human trafficking as
the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability.1
Human trafficking takes a variety of forms in every region of the world. Some adults and children are trafficked for prostitution and other forms of commercial sexual exploitation. Other individuals are trafficked for forced labor in agriculture, sweat shops, fishing crews, and domestic servitude or are trapped in situations of bonded labor or debt bondage. Some children may be lawfully and forcibly recruited as child soldiers by armed forces, as combatants or for other forms of labor.
The essence of human trafficking is the denial of personal freedoms. Human trafficking can include, but does not require, movement. People may be considered trafficking victims regardless of whether they were born into a state of servitude, were transported to the exploitative situation, previously consented to work for a trafficker, or participated in a crime as a direct result of being trafficked. The common denominator is the goal of exploitation through coercion and/or force. Read More