Anglicans and Catholics reaffirmed their fight against human trafficking at an event in Geneva, organised by the Sovereign Order of Malta and supported by the Anglican Communion.
The event on December 2nd was held to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the 2014 Joint Declaration of Religious Leaders against Human Trafficking, which was supported by the Pope, the Archbishop of Canterbury and other faith leaders.
The Sovereign Order of Malta specialise in combatting human trafficking and modern-day slavery. Representing the Anglican Communion at the event was the Rt Revd Dr Alastair Redfern was Bishop of Derby from 2005 to 2018, sitting in the House of Lords. He helped with the original signing of the agreement, served in the House of Lords as the Church of England’s anti-slavery lead, and helped found the Clewer Initiative.
The event was also joined by a number of anti-trafficking activists including: Monsignor Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo (Chancellor Emeritus of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences); Kevin Hyland OBE (the U.K. government’s first independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner and a director of the Santa Marta Group); Monsignor Chaves Mendoza (of the Holy See’s diplomatic mission to the UN in Geneva); Frédérique Seidel (World Council of Churches); and Fathers Jeff Bayhi and Chuck Swanson (Louisiana’s Center for Trafficked Girls).
Continuing the fight against human trafficking and modern-day slavery is vital. Fuelled by underlying inequality, poverty, climate-induced destruction, refugee movements, and conflict, it is an illegal industry generating $236 billion a year in profits. Thirty-five million of the 50 million people in slavery are women. Every day in the United States, three million children are bought, sold and enslaved.
Speaking about modern slavery, the Rt Revd Alastair Redfern said: "We need to reclaim the word sin and name things for what they are and call the world to repentance and change.” He spoke the need to be present in the communities where we live, looking out for the vulnerable, and countering what Pope Francis has called a ‘globalisation of indifference’. It damages our humanity to use others as commodities. We need instead to turn towards commitment in relationships and enable the stories of the survivors to be heard.
Anglican Communion Geneva UN representative, the Revd Glen Ruffle, closed the meeting by pointing ways in which people can tackle human trafficking. This included growing awareness for human trafficking and modern slavery; paying attention to labour conditions and employee rights; promoting women’s rights and reporting suspicious activities to the relevant authorities.
For more information about Anglican responses to Human Trafficking, visit the Anglican Alliance website here.