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Wednesday, March 05, 2008 |
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SOCIAL JUSTICE:
By St Mary Administrator @ 7:50 AM :: 273 Views ::  :: Human Concerns
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Trafficking of Women and Children
Has slavery really been eliminated? According to the U.S. National Security Strategy, “Trafficking in persons is a form of modern-day slavery, and we strive for its total abolition. Future generations will not excuse those who turn a blind eye to it.”
Street children, as young as two years old, are trafficked into metropolitan centers throughout India, where they are forced to beg for money. Child begging is considered a form of human trafficking. The profits from human trafficking fuel other criminal activities. According to the U.S. Federal Bureau of investigation, human trafficking generates an estimated nine billion dollars in annual revenue. No country is free of such activity. Over 2.5 million men, women and children are trafficked across international borders each year – approximately 80% are women and girls, and 50% are minors. Many of these victims have been violently assaulted or coerced into a sexual act. Unrestrained capitalistic policies create an economic system which leaves few options for the poor, who are mostly women and children.
What can you do? Continue to educate yourself and others. Check if hotels, airlines and tour companies you use have signed “the code” committing them to a policy prohibiting the sexual abuse of minors on their property.(www.thecode.org). Ask the U.S. Senate to ratify CEDAW, the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women – 182 countries have ratified it, but the U.S. has NOT ratified it.
- From materials of the Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes, Fond du Lac, Wis.
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