Joseph Auga Matamata, 28 July, was sentenced in the Napier High Court to eleven years in jail after being found guilty of ten charges in human trafficking and thirteen charges in dealing in slaves. “Modern slavery is not something that happens ‘over there’ that we don’t have to think about,” Grace Forest, co-founder of Walk Read more
Human trafficking victims need greater protection says the Vatican-based international network of Catholic charities. Insufficient attention “was paid on the collateral damage of the ongoing pandemic, especially on migrants and informal workers, who are now more exposed to trafficking and exploitation,” Caritas Internationalis says. Caritas voiced its concerns to highlight the plight of human trafficking Read more
Human trafficking violations have led to a petition on change.org to call for a popular porn website to be shut down and its executive held accountable. The 207,000-signature petition says: “We already have evidence, and it is just the tip of the iceberg. It’s time to shut down [this] super-predator site … and hold the Read more
Speaking to a network of religious sisters that helps human trafficking victims, Pope Francis on Thursday told them to work closely with the local church, because this is necessary for their project to be successful. “I want to reiterate that the journey of consecrated life, both female and male, is the path of ecclesial insertion,” Read more
A worldwide network of 2,000 Catholic religious sisters marked the 10th anniversary of its efforts to combat human trafficking and slavery July 29. Speakers from the Talitha Kum organization headlined a United Nations panel on the eve of the U.N. annual observance of the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons. “Human trafficking is one of Read more
Human trafficking is “happening closer to us than we think,” and Catholic groups are increasingly committed to fighting it through advocacy, prayer and action, global anti – trafficking leader Sister Gabriella Bottani, S.M.C., has said. “What we should do, more and more, is to be aware and to try to understand what trafficking is in Read more
Children, political prisoners, vulnerable and poor people are fleeing to the UK to escape gangs of organ harvesters. Lungs, kidneys, livers, hearts and corneas are reportedly among the most sought-after organs. They are sold on the black market around the world for thousands-of-pounds. The UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) data shows there were six referrals Read more
It is 8am and the rain is coming down in sheets. The streets are empty except for a dozen women and their pimps – women from some of the world’s poorest regions including Moldova, Romania, West Africa and Southeast Asia. Some are still in their teens. Not far away are numerous massage parlors and saunas offering women Read more
Six years ago, at the age of 26, Laila Talo Khuder Alali was sold as a sex slave eight times to men of different nationalities by militants of Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Standing in a hotel auditorium in India’s commercial hub of Mumbai to receive an award in the name of St. Read more
China’s one-child policy is leading to human trafficking, says Cardinal Charles Bo of Myanmar. Speaking at the current synod on youth taking place in Rome, Bo says during synod he was reflecting on the situation for young people in Myanmar. He says the position young people in Europe are in is “quite different” from young Read more