International Day of Prayer and Awareness against Human Trafficking

(Vatican Radio) Perhaps we really didn’t notice, perhaps we chose to turn away, probably we just didn’t know what to do or to say… what’s almost certain given the sheer magnitude of the phenomenon, is that  every single one of us have interacted with or crossed paths with a trafficked person at one time or another in our lives.

So, because around 2.5 million people continue to be victims of trafficking and slavery every year (official figures estimate roughly 21 million trafficked and exploited people in the world today), and because so many of them suffer abuse and unspeakable violence, we are all called to join in prayer on Sunday, February 8, to mark the first International Day of Prayer and Awareness Against Human Trafficking.

This particular date has been chosen as it is the Feast Day of Saint Josephine Bakhita who was sold into slavery as a young child and whose faith-filled struggle for liberation provides hope and inspiration for... (more)