The Lithuanian Bishops’ Conference (LBC) is lending its support to a campaign of national Caritas by urging priests and faithful to spread information on the trafficking of human beings and prostitution. During a recent joint LBC-Caritas press conference, the Lithuanian bishops asked priests to offer guidance to parishioners in suspected cases of proposals of work abroad, as a result of which young women have often been deceived and forced into prostitution. This is a task of information and education that, in the view of the president of the LBS, archbishop Sigitas Tamkevicius, “will probably reduce the cases of trafficking, especially in the smaller towns and villages”. “The campaign is being encouraged by British institutions concerned by the high percentage of Lithuanian women among those being held against their will in illegal brothels in the country”, reported the director of Caritas Lithuania, Robertas Grigas. Since 2002 Caritas Lithuania has promoted a specific project “Aid for the victims of prostitution and the trafficking of human beings”, funded by the government of the country and some foreign humanitarian foundations. “The women who decide to abandon prostitution receive aid and assistance from Caritas personnel in collaboration with the police – explains Kristina Misiniene, who coordinates the project -. So far 280 women have been assisted; the long-term effectiveness of the project may be estimated at around 40%”.
