2010-05-08 13:33:06

Nuns launch new campaign against human trafficking during World Cup


(May 8, 2010) An international network of women's religious orders has launched a worldwide awareness campaign aimed at preventing human trafficking during the June 11-July 11 World Cup soccer tournament in South Africa. The campaign titled, "2010 Should Be About the Game," has been targeting fans, religious leaders, potential victims of trafficking and the general public -- warning them about the risks and urging them to spread the word. Using the 2010 World Cup to exploit vulnerable women, children and men for slave labour, the sex industry or the drug trade is "an outright perversion of the spirit and ethical dimension of sport as well as of the idea and dignity of the human person," said Salesian Sister Bernadette Sangma who coordinates the anti-trafficking project of the International Union of Superiors Generals. A similar anti-trafficking campaign coordinated by the superiors general and the International Organization for Migration was highly successful during the 2006 World Cup in Germany, said Stefano Volpicelli, a migration office official who has been working with the sisters. The women's religious orders' international network called "Talita Kum," Aramaic for "Get Up," is carrying out an awareness campaign in South Africa, neighbouring countries, countries where large numbers of fans are expected to come from, and countries such as Thailand, where victims of trafficking are likely to be targeted, said Sister Sangma. The network is made up of 252 women's religious orders and it works with the international migration group; the network receives funding from the U.S. State Department.







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