Liberating enslaved women

“The trafficking of women is one of the tragedies of our time. We appeal to heads of state and of government, to international organizations, and to all men of good will for a global commitment to eliminate a scourge and a shame of humanity”. That’s the appeal launched at the end of the International Congress “A Network of Women Religious against the trafficking of human beings”. Held in Rome from 2 to 6 June, the Congress brought together 52 Sisters from 20 different countries and 31 congregations. It was organized by the International Union of Mother Superiors General (UISG, an umbrella organization that brings together 900 superiors of female religious congregations representing some 800,000 Catholic Sisters) and by the International Organization of Migrations, partner of female religious congregations for training courses organized for 400 nuns throughout the world since 2004. Women religious insist that “state policies are not doing enough to wrest women from the street”: on the contrary, “every repressive measure against emigration does nothing but give added impetus to the illegal trafficking” of human beings. Women religious renew their commitment for the future, “with joint initiatives and awareness-raising activities”; they promise “further coordination and increased networking”. We gathered some of the views expressed by participants in the Congress and some European experiences.Adolescents at risk. In Romania those most at risk now are the children and adolescents, male and female, who have remained at home, entrusted to the care of relatives, while their parents have emigrated in search of work. “It’s a whole generation that is growing up and that dreams of going abroad. They risk falling into the hands of traffickers”. Their plight is described to SirEurope by Sister Raquel Dias Flores, missionary Carmelite, who lives in Bucharest and forms part of a workgroup against trafficking composed of 6 congregations and 8 religious. With three other Carmelite Sisters she carries out activities aimed at prevention and the heightening of awareness in the Catholic world, especially in rural areas. The group provides counselling to girls who return home to Romania after escaping from their traffickers, offering them human and spiritual support. “These girls have difficult moments; they need to be given constant support, especially when they are suffering – says Sister Raquel -. They must feel themselves to be protagonists of their life; they must know that finally they are free”. At the start many don’t know what they are heading towards. “Others imagine it – she says – but leave just the same with the prime object of sending home money to their families. But what they don’t know is they will be physically assaulted, violated, beaten up and risk death”. Unjust discrimination. The theatre may be a means of telling people about the risks of trafficking. That’s the case in Albania, where Sister Josefina Rojo Rabadan, of the Company of Mary S.N., is involved in an awareness-raising project run by Caritas Albania. “In three years we have reached five of the country’s six dioceses and also involved laypeople. We got the idea of a stage play because Albanian youngsters are very fond of acting. We want to stage it in all the dioceses and are planning to give a performance in Tirana on 18 October, World Day against the trafficking of human beings. We also plan to conduct activities in summer camps and in women’s groups”. The main difficulty is the conflict with the prejudices of families. “When girls return home [after being trafficked abroad] they suffer a second trauma because no one wants to welcome them back or give them a helping hand – says Sister Josefina -. So they risk ending up once again in the hands of traffickers. Unfortunately there is a difference between men and women. If male traffickers have been in prison, they are re-accepted by their families on release. But their women victims are not”.Family atmosphere. In Spain, says Sister Aurelia Agredano, a Spanish nun of the Handmaids of Adoration of the Most Holy Sacrament and of Charity, some fifty women have been given shelter in the three shelters run by the congregation, but I’m in contact with some 300 others. “The process of freeing girls from the slavery of trafficking is long: it lasts some two years – explains Sister Aurelia – and it’s not easy. To begin with we raise their awareness in police stations, in centres for immigrants, in women’s shelters and in embassies. After entering into contact with them, we follow a set routine with interviews, counselling and support in their denunciation of their exploiters (but that’s not obligatory), and family or social support to those who lack it. In our shelters we live together with the girls, trying to create a family atmosphere”. At the end of the process the girls can decide whether to return to their homeland or remain in their host country. “In the latter case – she explains – we give them the chance to study the language, undergo training and find a job”.Prevention is best. In Holland the missionary doctor Elma Van Den Nouland, of the SRTV (Stichting religieuzen tegen vrouwenhandel), works in the Foundation of Female Religious against the Trafficking of Women promoted by various congregations. “Our main objective is prevention – she explains -. We visit schools; we speak to women’s groups; we hold meeting in universities; we publish brochures in various languages that we distribute also in the girls’ countries of origin. We also help women with repatriation, with the involvement of groups of Sisters that run shelters and offer micro-credit in countries of origin. If women have the chance to find work in their own countries they won’t risk falling into the hands of traffickers”.