If you are a teacher, pat yourself on the back…you are fighting human trafficking.
If your job consists in fighting for better wages and working conditions for laborers…you are fighting human trafficking.
If your work involves improving housing for the poorest residents of the CNMI…you are also fighting human trafficking.
So says Australian Sister of Mercy Angela Reed, RSM. She is an expert on the trafficking of girls and women and has a lot to say about how to fight it. After studying the sexual exploitation of Filipina girls and women extensively, she is led to conclude that addressing the root causes of trafficking is not only about trying to combat the demand for women and girls for sex but must also address the supply of victims who are easy to exploit.
She believes that prevention is key and has some thoughts on how to go about it.
First of all, human trafficking for sexual exploitation is not usually as dramatic as random targeting of potential victims. Girls or women are not ordinarily kidnapped in their neighborhoods, in broad daylight. Procuring a steady supply of women to exploit involves systematically singling out candidates among those women who are already most vulnerable.
That means that traffickers are looking for a combination of life conditions, and not just one of the following: poverty, lack of education and opportunities for the future, the absence of a protective support network. Generally speaking, it means that these women and girls are living in conditions which make life more difficult for them than their male counterparts.
In other words, traffickers are looking for individuals who are particularly disadvantaged by the usual struggles of life and who, as a result, are facing especially difficult barriers to pursuing their own growth and/or professional and financial independence.
That’s where all of us ordinary folks come in: Sister Angela Reed proposes that improving any of the “Optimal Life Course Conditions” (OLCCs) which help to contribute to this growth and independence is a good place to start. She has identified fourteen:
“There are 14 OLCCs, and they are clustered in three stages. In childhood, they include adequate standard of living, quality education, safety and security. In adolescence, they include psychosexual health and development and long-term life skills. In young adulthood, they include decent work and economic empowerment, community cohesion and personal security.”
Limiting the supply of human trafficking victims can begin by doing something as simple as improving: education, quality of life, gender equality, programs which foster self-sufficiency. These are all ways to help “inoculate” folks against the risk of victimization.
So this coming week, as you go to work or contribute to conditions which provide a safe and loving home for your family and friends, consider that you are helping to prevent human trafficking. All that we can do to help the others in our community thrive will contribute to their safety. And remember to reach beyond your own circles of friends and family; think of how you can help a teacher, a parent, a nurse, social worker or civil servant to do their job well. Every little bit helps.
(This column is based on an interview published by NCR Online from June 26th, 2018, “Q & A with Sr. Angela Reed, seeking to address the root causes of human trafficking” at globalsistersreport.org/blog/q/ministry-trafficking/q-sr-angela-reed-seeking-address-root-causes-human-trafficking-54661)
