Today is Canada's first National Human Trafficking Awareness Day.
Human trafficking is a tragic violation of human rights that devastates its victims, strips away their dignity and security and tears at the fabric of our community.
In September 2014 at GC14, the IBVM committed to the following:
As members of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, an international and multicultural congregation of women religious, we pledge to work for the eradication of all forms of human trafficking and its causes, particularly among women and children, wherever we live and minister.
What are we doing to end human trafficking? The IBVM Sisters and Associates in the Canadian Region have been actively involved in the education of its members and assisting in taking action whenever possible through protests, letter writing and even changing laws. The Mary Ward Centre has facilitated workshops for both young people and adults in this area of social justice. Read more
Prayer to End Human Trafficking
O God of every family on earth, Loving and compassionate God,
We come before you in prayer
Unable to fully comprehend
the horror of women and men and children
Transported to unknown places
To be exploited and abused
Because of greed and profit.
We are people of many creeds,
united in our sadness and our anger.
We cry out together against
the degrading practice of human trafficking.
Our hearts are saddened and our spirits angry
that their dignity and rights
Are being transgressed through threats, deception, and force.
Give us the wisdom and courage
to stand up against the evil that makes it possible
For people to buy and sell and trade others.
Give us the wisdom and courage
to stand in solidarity with the victims,
That together we will find a way
To the freedom that is your gift to all of us.
We pray for it to end.
AMEN
Taken from School Sisters of Notre Dame (SSND), Canadian Province, Trafficking Reflection Booklet, p. 10
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