The International Day of Prayer and Awareness Against Human Trafficking

February 8, 2017

The International Day of Prayer and Awareness
Against Human Trafficking

#theyarejustchildrennotslaves

Liturgical memory of St Bakhita

If you want to know more about this day established by Pope Francis in 2015 – click here

Event Invitation

Very often mere children are involved in sexual trafficking, as in the case of three cousins, aged 8 and 9 years from a poor family in Cebu City, Philippines, trafficked for cybersex. “A guy approached our mothers and asked if we wanted to earn some money” say the little ones – “He asked to take us to a place to meet foreign people on the internet. According to him, he would only show our faces on the computer and in return would give 100 pesos. Our mothers, thinking about money they would receive, accepted the offer. The guy convinced us to go with him to help our families. Since we were very poor we believed in his promises “. But very soon they found themselves involved in a terrifying reality. They were threatened not to tell at home what they were forced to undergo. Thanks to the intervention of the local police, they managed to escape. The girls followed a recovery program, but the psychological damage suffered has marked them forever.

It is estimated that over the past thirty years, approximately 30 million children have been involved in trafficking. Currently in the world, every two minutes, a baby or child is a victim of sexual exploitation. More than 200 million children work, of which 73 million are under 10 years old. 22,000 of these children die each year due to work related accidents.

Organizing a prayer