Vatican hosts conference on combatting human trafficking
An English girl, forced into prostitution in Italy, was among the key speakers at
an international conference on combating human trafficking hosted by the Pontifical
Justice and Peace Council in the Vatican on Tuesday. The meeting, jointly organised
by the Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales, brought British police and
crime experts together with bishops, priests and women religious working in the fields
of prevention, pastoral support and reintegration of trafficked victims. The goal
of the one day conference was to highlight the scale of the problem – defined by the
UN as the second most profitable worldwide criminal enterprise after the arms trade
– and promote closer collaboration between churches, national authorities and international
organisations. Among the dramatic stories presented to participants was the harrowing
tale of how one English girl was lured by her Albanian boyfriend for a holiday in
Italy and forced to sell her body on the streets for six months until she was able
to escape back home.
Listen:
She’s called
Sophie Hayes, though of course that’s not her real name, or her real voice. But her
experience of being betrayed by the man who’d befriended her for several years was
so horrific that she wanted to tell her story and help others in the fight against
this modern form of slavery….
"He told me he'd take my brother away from
my family if I ever tried to escape, to speak to anyone, that I couldn't trust anbody,
that he had people working for him, the police, if I went to a train station, airport,
I could never escape...."
But Sophie’s story doesn’t end there. After six
months, admitted to hospital for chronic stomach pains, she managed to speak to her
mother who came out to Italy and brought her home. Now ten years on, she has written
a book about her ordeal and set up a foundation to help others from falling into the
same trap.
At the opening of the conference, the president of the Pontifical
Justice and Peace Council Cardinal Peter Turkson said he welcomed the initiative of
the UK Catholic Bishops in helping raise awareness of the plight of so many people
who fall victim to the traffickers. New evangelisation, he said, means helping to
change minds and hearts and working for greater justice in the world. There is
already a successful network, especially of women religious in countries around the
world, working to support such women and stop the trafficking gangs. The hope of this
conference is that anyone, everyone, listening to Sophie’s story will want to become
part of this partnership, through prayer, through fund raising or other practical
action. Because what happened to Sophie could also happen to your daughter, your sister,
your neighbour, your friend.