St. Paul Catholic Church

Human trafficking violates the sanctity, dignity, and fundamental rights of the human person. The United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons defines it as "the recruitment, transportation, harboring or receipt of persons by means of force, fraud or coercion…for the purpose of exploitation." According to the U.S. State Department, human trafficking appears in "many guises", often taking the form of commercial sexual exploitation, the prostitution of minors, debt bondage, and involuntary servitude. The United States government, and increasingly the international community, utilize the umbrella term "trafficking in persons" to define all forms of modern slavery.

Every year, millions of men, women and children fall into the hands of traffickers in their own countries and abroad.  No sector or industry is immune from human trafficking.  Victims may be workers in food processing factories, waiters or cooks at restaurants, construction workers, agricultural laborers, fishers, housekeeping staff at hotels, domestic help in private residences, or sex trafficked women and men in brothels, spas and massage parlors. According to the United Nation's International Labor Organization's (ILO) 2016 "Global Estimates of Modern Slavery," nearly 40.3 million people are victims of modern slavery, of whom 24.9 million are entrapped in forced labor and sexual slavery and 15.4 million subjected to forced marriage. Through coercion, deceit, or force, they are trapped in jobs and situations from which they cannot escape.

Traffickers lure men, women, and children with false promises of good jobs, education, economic security, and love. Once enticed, traffickers keep their victims from seeking help through means such as confiscating identification documents, threats of violence against the victim or their family, and physical or psychological abuse.

- MIGRATION & REFUGEE SERVICES at USCCB.ORG