 MANGALORE, India (UCAN) Superiors general of about 35 women's congregations based in India have drafted a plan to fight trafficking of women and children through educating Religious as well as cooperating across congregations and with Church institutions. The nuns, whose congregations have members in various Asian countries, met on Jan. 2 in Mangalore, 2,290 kilometers southwest of New Delhi, as a follow-up to a workshop on trafficking in October 2007 in Rome. At the Rome meeting, about 30 nuns from 26 countries formed the International Network of Religious against Trafficking in Persons.
At the Mangalore meeting, the nuns agreed to collaborate across congregations to combat trafficking of women and children in India and other parts of Asia, Sister Jyothi, superior general of the Bethany congregation, told UCA News. She said women Religious have a natural inclination to fight crimes against women and children.
Another Bethany nun, Sister Lilitta, presented a paper and pointed out that 74 million South Asian women have been reported missing, with 20 million said to be working in Indian brothels. An estimated 25 percent of women trafficked to India are under 18 years old, according to the nun, who did her doctoral research on human trafficking. She urged women Religious to "do whatever possible to curb this menace."
The plan drafted at the meeting suggests Religious attend workshops designed to "sensitize" and "activate" them. It also proposes an intercongregational network and joint projects in collaboration with individuals and various Church institutions including Caritas India, the local Catholic Church's social-service organization, to fight trafficking. The projects would aim to prevent trafficking, rescue its victims and rehabilitate them.
Trafficking of people, especially women and children, occurs for diverse purposes including prostitution, servitude, illegal adoption, organ transplants, drug trafficking and beggary, Sister Lilitta noted. The problem is a sociopolitical issue, she contended, pointing out that of the 685 people Indian police arrested on trafficking charges in 2007, only 27 were prosecuted. In her view, this suggests traffickers routinely escape punishment through manipulation. The nun also said most affected women and children are poor and easily taken advantage of, coming from the socially and economically backward classes. According to her, India, the Philippines and Thailand together have around 1.3 million children in the sex trade.
St. Ann Sister Tresa Ann, who moderated the Mangalore sessions, said her congregation would join the network with "a sense of urgency." She told UCA News several congregations have agreed to work together in this "less attended field of ministry." Jesuit Father Ronnie Prabhu, who celebrated Mass for the congregational leaders, urged them to take on this work that "nobody else" could do "more effectively" than women Religious.
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