What is The Church's Social Teaching Saying About Human Trafficking
Abstract
Trafficking in persons (Human Trafficking) has become a well documented issue although it remains in some way invisible to our eyes. The stories of human trafficking we hear about are often of people who have been rescued and are able to narrate
what actually befell them. Many other stories, however, go untold because the people that should tell these stories are trapped in areas known only to them and those who have held them captive to exploit them for various reasons. Whether told or untold, situations of human trafficking compromise the core human value of human dignity, that which is at the centre of all human rights catalogued in the United Nations' instruments as well as in individual countries' constitutions and other documents. This
value stems from the fact that we are made in the image and likeness of God, meaning the sacredness of any human being is not the status one has acquired socially, economically or politically.
Description
“Defence of the dignity of the human person is a basic principle of Church social teaching. The bond between the person and the Creator is the foundation of his or her dignity and of fundamental inalienable rights guaranteed by God. No
individual, society or human institution has the right to reduce a person to the status of an object. Our belief that God is at the origin of human kind radically affirms the equal dignity of all persons. This conviction ensures that nothing can justify any servitude of the weak or less fortunate”, (Archdiocese of Vancouver, Canada, Pastoral Letteron Human Trafficking, 2010).