Human Trafficking

February 8 is a National Day of Prayer and Awareness against Human Trafficking  - the feast day of St. Josephine Bakhita.

The Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and the International Union of Superiors General has designated February 8 as an annual day of prayer and awareness against human trafficking. February 8 is the feast day of St. Josephine Bakhita, who was kidnapped as a child and sold into slavery in Sudan and Italy. Once Josephine was freed, she became a Canossian nun and dedicated her life to sharing her testament of deliverance from slavery and comforting the poor and suffering. She was declared a Saint in 2000.

 On February 8, Catholics all over the world are encouraged to host or attend prayer services to create greater awareness about this phenomenon. Through prayer, we not only reflect on the experiences of those that have suffered through this affront to human dignity, but also comfort, strengthen, and help empower survivors.        

What is it?

The movement of people across boundaries is part of a collective human experience. There is an element of this experience that must be eradicated: the trafficking of human beings through the use of fraud, force, and coercion for the purpose of forced prostitution or forced labor...

Catholic Teaching and Human Trafficking

The Catholic Church has condemned human trafficking and has developed social service programs to serve and protect its survivors...

The Reality of Human Trafficking

As many as 700,000 persons are trafficked globally each year—men, women, and children. Survivors of human trafficking are commonly linked by poverty and lack of opportunity. They are also connected by their desperation and their perception of migration as an accessible escape route. Often they seek to escape life in an oppressive slum, with the hope of finding opportunity and a brighter future elsewhere...

The Response to Human Trafficking

The global community, including the United States, is only beginning to comprehend the scope and impact of the selling of human persons in the world...

Call to Action

As a global institution that is present in source nations as well as nations that serve as markets for human trafficking, the Catholic Church is well positioned to identify and rescue survivors of human trafficking. In fact, the Catholic Church provides important social services to survivors in the United States and around the world...

Resource Materials

Human Trafficking in Wisconsin
Human Trafficking Institute - Wisconsin State Report
Sex and Labor Trafficking in Wisconsin Infographic
USCCB Anti-Trafficking Program
Suggested Petitions