Catholic Relief Services: July Briefing
As we commemorate our nation’s independence and its values of liberty and justice for all, it is a shocking fact that slavery and human trafficking have been experiencing a dramatic resurgence in recent years.
Trafficking in persons is the coerced use of people as a form of commerce, in slave labor and extreme forms of sexual exploitation. It is a multibillion-dollar-a-year growth industry.
Just last month, the U.S. State Department released its 2010 Report on Human Trafficking. Its authors estimate that 12.3 million adults and children are currently held in modern-day slavery, including forced labor and prostitution. And for the first time, the report included the United States in its rankings, based on the same standards on which we judge other countries. This is a reminder that trafficking is not just a foreign enterprise, but occurs in many American cities as well. In fact, human trafficking is the third-largest criminal enterprise worldwide, behind trafficking in drugs and weapons. Yet there were only 4,166 successful prosecutions of human traffickers in 2009.
Read this month’s letter from CRS President Ken Hackett.
Thwarting Slavery With Education and VigilanceMarketable skills and education are the best defense against human trafficking. Find out how your support thwarts modern-day slave traders. |
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Hospitality for Kyrgyzstan’s HomelessSurvivors of Kyrgyzstan violence offer hospitality in what’s left of their burned-out, bullet-riddled homes. |
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Philippines: Uniting Farmers, Linking to MarketsA new approach to farming raises more crops, but it also helps farmers when they’re not in their fields. |
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Peace Hits the Airwaves in SudanBy developing and airing messages of peace, the Sudan Catholic Radio Network is hoping to change the way Sudanese resolve conflicts. |
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Video: World Cup Brings Nations TogetherEvery four years there is a tournament like no other the World Cup. No sport unites the world as one human family quite like soccer, football, futbol.
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Helping Haiti, Looking AheadApproximately six months after the quake, Haiti relief workers see a long, complex, but clear path to full recovery. |
