In January 2025, Sister Viktorija of the Sisters of Mercy of the Holy Cross shared her remarkable journey in combating human trafficking (HT) with various communities across Croatia. Her dedication to raising awareness, fostering prevention, and advocating for victims continues to inspire many.

A Special Presentation to the Candidates and Novices

On 13 January 2025, Sister Viktorija was invited by the Sister Formator to deliver a presentation on human trafficking at the Provincial House of her Congregation in the Croatian Province. This session was attended by the youngest members of the congregation, including candidates and novices aged 20 to 25.

Reflecting on her journey since 2007, Sister Viktorija recounted her initial involvement in the fight against trafficking and highlighted her collaboration with superiors on national, provincial, and international levels. She also shared her experiences working with the Archbishop and conducting talks in over 50 parishes within the Archdiocese of eastern Croatia. Unlike her sometimes shorter presentations, this session was uniquely engaging, as the Formator allowed ample time for discussions in the warm and inquisitive atmosphere created by the young participants.

This presentation was particularly meaningful as it marked the culmination of Sister Viktorija’s efforts in organizing a two-and-a-half-hour HT awareness program for more than 300 Sisters of the Croatian Province. This January, her focus shifted to the youngest members of the congregation, who had joined the Convent in the past three to four years.

A Gathering with Franciscan Youth in Vinkovci

On 19 January 2025, Sister Viktorija connected with members of Franciscan Youth in Vinkovci. Her talk on human trafficking was attended by young people associated with the Franciscan convent. Following the discussion, the group united in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament to honor and remember the victims of trafficking.

Additionally, plans were made to extend these conversations to the broader community. During the first week of February, leading up to the Feast of Saint Bakhita, Sister Viktorija will deliver talks on HT to the faithful gathering in the Franciscan church in Vinkovci.

Preventive Workshops for Students in Gundinci

Sister Viktorija’s outreach continued on 6 February 2025, when she was invited by a religion teacher to visit a school in the village of Gundinci. She conducted two workshops aimed at preventive education on human trafficking, engaging 37 students in meaningful discussions. These sessions underscore the importance of early awareness and education in the fight against this global issue.

A Podcast with the Evangelisation Community

Currently, Sister Viktorija is collaborating with the Evangelisation Community of Vinkovci to produce a podcast on human trafficking. This initiative aims to further educate and inspire listeners to take action against trafficking. The podcast is expected to be completed before 8 February 2025.

Looking Ahead

Sister Viktorija’s tireless efforts to combat human trafficking through education, prayer, and advocacy remain a testament to her commitment and compassion. Her journey continues to touch lives and inspire hope, bringing light to a critical global issue. We are deeply grateful to her for her unwavering dedication to the fight against human trafficking.

In January, Sr. Imelda Poole MBE delivered a thought-provoking talk at Corpus Christi Church in Wokingham, addressing the critical issue of modern slavery and supporting victims of trafficking. Drawing from her extensive experience, Sr. Imelda highlighted global efforts to combat trafficking, the impact of technology, and practical steps individuals can take to make a difference.

The evening concluded with a prayer of hope and a lively Q&A session, reflecting the community’s commitment to tackling this global crisis.

Read more here: https://wokingham.today/we-need-to-turn-concern-for-victims-into-action/

Context of Ukraine in numbers:

• Another 400,000 refugees arrived to EU in the first six months of 2024 alone.
• 4,7 million people are displaced within Ukraine.
• 11 973 civilians and 583 children killed;
• 19 546 children deported to Russia or to temporary occupied territory;
• 1 932 children missed;
• New wave of vulnerable internally displaced people (IDP) from the East. Since August of this year, 170,000 people have left their homes in the east of the country;
• Intensification of bombing: introduction of guided aerial bombs (Zaporizzha, Sumy, Kharkiv regions), combined attacks of drones, missiles, ballistic missiles (Poltava, Lviv, Kyiv regions), double tapping (Odesa, Kharkiv regions);
• Movement forward on the front line, burnt ground tactics;
• Continued destruction of energy infrastructure – 60% of 2022 capacity was destroyed in 2024.
• Destruction and damage of civilian infrastructure: 250 000 houses, 3 798 educational facilities, 1 911 healthcare facilities, 2 093 cultural objects, 630 religious building.[1]

Caritas Ukraine at the Front Line of Counter Trafficking

Significant war-related population displacement has increased the risks of human trafficking, as noted in a report by the Office of Monitoring and Combating Human Trafficking at the US Embassy in Ukraine. The war and its economic impact increased the individual vulnerability to human trafficking even of those Ukrainians who did not become displaced persons. National social service noted more cases of human trafficking and only for half a year granted 121 official statuses of the victims of human trafficking (in comparison to 118 in 2023). As in December 2024 National social service noted already 182 cases of human trafficking. 123 cases are combined types of exploitation, 19 cases of involving into war conflict, 15 persons became the victims of labor exploitation and 13 persons were sexually exploited.

[1] Data as of November 2024 by Ombudsman of Ukraine

The tendency of labor, sexual and other exploitation of Ukrainians in captivity or at the occupied territories, is going on. The representatives of Caritas Ukraine and all the experts in counter trafficking underline the affection of war and increasing the cases of exploitation due to armed conflict, occupation and captivity of civilians by russians.

“The on-going war has accelerated these exploitation trends. Traffickers know how to prey on people under stress; they know exactly who to target, how to recruit vulnerable individuals for later exploitation.” – Natalia Holynska, counter trafficking project manager, Caritas Ukraine.

      During the last 6 months Caritas Ukraine staff identified 120 potential victims of trafficking, 78 survivors of trafficking. 77 of them were included into the project as direct beneficiaries and received the comprehensive assistance. Tailor made assistance to the victims is being given to the beneficiaries during a period of time. All the direct beneficiaries received psychological or psychotherapeutic services, social, medical, judicial, material assistance, information, referral, assistance in job searching and grants for micro-business.

Almost 70 thousand people received useful information and were probably prevented from risks of human trafficking. The on-line course created by Caritas Ukraine at the platform Prometheus “Human trafficking: how to protect yourself and your loved ones” was actively advertised among different target groups. General feedback of the participants is very good, they estimated the course with the mark 8,6 (from 10 possible). 9 from 10 participants would recommend this course to the others. 

Prepared by Natalia Holynska,

Caritas Ukraine counter trafficking project manager

nholynska@caritas.ua https://caritas.ua/