Human trafficking is a crime that exploits women, children, and men for numerous purposes, including forced labor and sex. Every country in the world is affected by human trafficking.
The theme of the 2022 World Day against Trafficking in Persons is "Stories of Courage: Resistance to Slavery and Unity against Racism."
Pope Francis has called the trafficking of women and girls a violent evil.
"It is a deep and open wound in the body of Christ and in the body of all humanity, which affects each one of us," he says in a video message on the occasion of the 8th World Day of Prayer and Reflection against Human Trafficking.
The data shows that thousands of men, women, and children are sold into slavery yearly. They are frequently duped and misled into believing that they are being transported to labor that would benefit their family or that they are being abducted by force, kidnapping, or even by poor families that sell their children to survive.
People who get caught up in trafficking lose their rights and identity, and are used and abused.
This theme underlines that millions of human tales lie beneath the numbers and figures. The narratives of individuals torn from their homelands and families. The accounts of those who resisted their oppressors The accounts of those who overcame insurmountable obstacles to attain their freedom. Racism is the most incredible enduring legacy of the transatlantic slave trade, and people worldwide continue to struggle against it today.
The definition of human trafficking in persons includes the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring, or receipt of people through the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power, or a vulnerable position, or the giving or receiving of payments.
It is essential to fight against human trafficking because human trafficking affects all, whether we live in countries of origin, transit, or destination. Preventing and combating it requires a comprehensive international approach.
All must act together to stop a crime in our midst that deprives countless victims of their liberty, dignity, and human rights.
In 2013, the General Assembly of the United Nations (UN) held a high-level meeting to appraise the Global Plan of Action. The Member States also adopted resolution A/RES/68/192 and designated July 30 as the World Day against Trafficking in Persons.
This resolution aims to "raise awareness of the situation of victims of human trafficking and to promote and protect their rights."
On this World Day against Trafficking in Persons, let us resolve to act as one in the name of justice and dignity for all.
Radio Veritas Asia (RVA), a media platform of the Catholic Church, aims to share Christ. RVA started in 1969 as a continental Catholic radio station to serve Asian countries in their respective local language, thus earning the tag “the Voice of Asian Christianity.” Responding to the emerging context, RVA embraced media platforms to connect with the global Asian audience via its 21 language websites and various social media platforms.
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