Monday, November 21, 2016

Human trafficking a global evil that must be tackled: Bishop

Image result for Bishop Vincent Long OFM"Human trafficking and similar forms of exploitation affect every country on earth," writes Bishop Vincent Long OFM Conv, Chairman of the Australian Catholic Social Justice Council (ACSJC), in a new report on human trafficking and slavery.

It flourishes "because of society’s greed for cheap goods and services and because it is so easy to forget that those who meet these needs are human beings with their own innate God-given dignity," adds Bishop Long in his foreword to Human Trafficking and Slavery: A response from Australian Catholics.

The paper, the latest in the ACSJC’s Catholic Social Justice Series, is written by Christine Carolan, Executive Officer of Australian Catholic Religious Against Trafficking in Humans (ACRATH), and Sister Noelene Simmons SM, ACRATH’s Project Officer for NSW.

The paper looks at slavery and related crimes in the modern world, at the Church’s teaching, and at the international and Australian laws that deal with this abuse. 

The paper then discusses ACRATH’s work advocating on behalf of victims of human trafficking, educating Australians, and working alongside organisations here and overseas to shut down human trafficking.