Raising awareness through supporting and training Youth Ambassadors in the community
July 30th marks World Day Against Trafficking, which aims to highlight the injustices brought about people through human trafficking. According to the United Nations, it is estimated that more than 40 million people worldwide are affected by human trafficking each year. Hope for Justice, a non-profit organisation estimates that each year out of those 40 million affected, 12 million children are exploited through human trafficking with more than 1.7 million of those forced into sexual exploitation.
Since the RSC establishment in 1815 by the Venerable Mary Aikenhead, the mission of the order has been to address the unmet needs of the poor. With this in mind, in 2007, at the Religious Sisters of Charity (RSC) annual chapter that the congregation decreed it would prioritise combatting social justice issues globally, including human trafficking. So, the RSC designated Sisters to each area that their congregation was active in to combat human trafficking and protect the dignity of the people in the areas most affected.
In Zambia, human trafficking is a serious issue, particularly in its border towns where women and children are forced into modern slavery and sex trafficking. Often times, victims are coerced by family members and people known to them. In terms of human trafficking, Zambia is known as both a “transit” and “destination” country due to its trade routes to South Africa and other countries.
So, to play a role in combatting this human rights issue, the Religious Sisters of Charity have been collaborating with Zambian organisation, Talitha Kum, (Child, Arise). Talitha Kum is an international network established in 2009 to minimise human trafficking. The RSC also collaborate with the Zambia government. Collectively, they work to provide training for youth ambassadors, share educational resources and provide aftercare support to victims.
In Zambia, Sr. Kayula and Sr. Patience work with immigration offices, the police and the human trafficking departments under the Ministry of Home Affairs and Internal Security to advocate and reduce human trafficking across the 11 dioceses of Zambia. This includes profiling irregular migrants who have been wrongfully imprisoned or trafficked, from countries like Malawi and Ethiopia.
Raising an awareness of the signs of human trafficking and how to prevent it can have a transformative effect on communities, as often people from disadvantaged or border towns and villages are the most affected by trafficking and modern slavery. There are multiple types of human trafficking, including labour trafficking, sex trafficking, debt bondage and even organ removal.
To raise awareness of the signs, the Sisters train young people to become Youth Ambassadors who are mindful of these signs across 11 Dioceses, and to communicate them regularly within the community as ambassadors of the Talitha Kum and RSC network. So far, 120 numbers of Youth Ambassadors have been trained. This exchange of information not only protects communities but empowers the ambassadors to affect positive change on vulnerable people.
Some of the signs that the Sisters advise to be alert to if a person has been a victim of human trafficking include:
- An employer holding on to personal identification documents and refusing to share them with the employee
- A group of people who appear to have no fluency or language of the country they are in, with one person speaking on their behalf
- On social media, people using fake accounts to lure people in to fake prospects
- A person offering scholarships, or other such offers without proof or via official channels
- People who appear to be monitored by another person when talking or interacting with others
- Individuals who appear to be threatened by their boss with deportation or other harm
- Children missing multiple school days
In the future, the Talitha Kum initiative aspires to expand its services by building a shelter that can welcome victims, in particular, women who have been victims of human trafficking. This includes emergency accommodation and referral to external counselling services.
For more information on the work that the Religious Sisters of Charity do to prevent human trafficking with Talitha Kum in Zambia, visit www.takuza.org or visit their Facebook channel here.
