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2022 Assembly

 

Pope Calls for Anti Human Trafficking meeting at Vatican

 

Pope Francis Human TraffickingWe are pleased to announce that two members of the RENATE Working Board will be present at this workshop and will keep the Network in touch with the conclusions and the future work at the Vatican in this important field of TIP and how we as a Network can collaborate in this work.
 
From the Vatican Radio Website
August 23, 2013 – On the request of Pope Francis, Catholic Church experts will gather in November with the aim of better tackling the growing scourge of human trafficking. “We must be grateful to Pope Francis for having identified one of the most important social dramas of our time and that he has had enough trust in our Catholic institutions to ask us to arrange this working group,” said Bishop Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo, chancellor of the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy of Sciences. The academy along with the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences and the World Federation of Catholic Medical Associations will meet to discuss a Vatican action plan to help combat what is often referred to as the modern slave trade. “Trafficking in human beings is a terrible offense against human dignity and a grave violation of fundamental human rights,” Bishop Sánchez Sorondo told Vatican Radio on Thursday. “In this century, it acts as a catalyst in the creation of criminal assets.” The group will meet at the headquarters of both the academies in Vatican City.
Bishop Sánchez Sorondo observed that the United Nations has begun to be aware of this growing crime “only in 2000,” together with the effects of globalization. “The alarming increase in the trade in human beings is one of the pressing economic, social and political risks associated with the process of globalization,” he said. “It’s a serious threat to the security of individual nations and a question of international justice.”
A 2012 report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime on human trafficking says around 20.9 million victims are forced into labor globally. Each year, about two million people are victims of sex trafficking, 60 percent of whom are girls. The practice is not limited to poor and underdeveloped areas, but extends to all world regions. “Some observers argue that, in a few years, trafficking in persons will exceed the trafficking of drugs and arms, making it the most lucrative criminal activity in the world,” the bishop warned. (Source: CNA)

Dangers of Internet Relationships – trafficking victims

 

Internet datingTraffickers are increasingly looking on the internet to find their next victims. So many people are now turning to the internet as a way to find friendship, love and work that the traffickers are tapping into these recruitment methods to try and get many young people to become their next victim.
Beware of all types of predators on the internet. Any offer of love, work or friendship must be treated with a great deal of mistrust until you have fully researched :
– who the person is you are talking with online
– who else has things to say about them on the internet that can prove they are trustworthy
NEVER go to meet your new contacts you have met online alone – always take an adult with you to help determine how genuine they are.
NEVER go to meet your new contacts you have met online without telling someone else about the meeting including who you are meeting, where you are meeting and any other background information you know about this person.

RENATE Training on Catholic Social Teaching & Fundraising

 

social teaching training 2013Catholic Social Teaching Training & Fundraising Training for RENATE members has now been organized and will take place in Čičmany, Slovakia, from Sunday, November 3rd – till Friday November 8th 2013. We expect 25 participants from thirteen European countries.
Trainers on Catholic Social Teaching: Dr. Nicola Rooney & Fr. Milan Bubák SVD
Trainers on Fundraising: Sr. Imelda Poole IBVM & Mrs. Ivonne van de Kar
Please see below the profiles of our external trainers on Catholic Social Teaching.
Dr. Nicola Rooney has been employed by the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference as Research Coordinator for the Council for Justice and Peace and the Northern Ireland Catholic Council on Social Affairs since 2008. During this time, both Councils have been actively involved in advocacy initiatives relating to human trafficking, including the publication of a statement in November 2009 .
In addition, both Councils advise the Bishops’ Conference on this issue, leading to a joint statement by all the bishops in September 2012 calling for the criminalisation of the purchase of “sexual services” in both jurisdictions in Ireland. As a member of the Executive Committee of the Conference of European Justice and Peace Commissions, Dr. Rooney participated in an Exposure Dialogue programme in Ukraine in May 2009. Participants spent three days researching the problem of human trafficking while living with families who had been affected, before presenting their findings to a meeting of key stakeholders, including Church leaders, CEOs of relevant NGOs and the Minister for Social and Family Affairs.
 
Fr. Milan Bubák
Milan Bubák, SVD, born in 1956, is a catholic priest, a member of the missionary congregation Divine Word Society. As a priest he has rich experience in working with different people in different contexts. Last six years he served as the Coordinator for justice and Peace and Integrity of Creation for his congregation in Rome where he wrote a booklet entitled Human Trafficking – Present Day Slavery. Presently he serves as a Parish Priest in Bratislava.
HT Booklet_ENG
HT Booklet_ESP_

Dangers of Internet Relationships – trafficking victims

 

Internet relationshipsTraffickers are increasingly looking on the internet to find their next victims. So many people are now turning to the internet as a way to find friendship, love and work that the traffickers are tapping into these recruitment methods to try and get many young people to become their next victim.
Beware of all types of predators on the internet. Any offer of love, work or friendship must be treated with a great deal of mistrust until you have fully researched :
– who the person is you are talking with online
– who else has things to say about them on the internet that can prove they are trustworthy
NEVER go to meet your new contacts you have met online alone – always take an adult with you to help determine how genuine they are.
NEVER go to meet your new contacts you have met online without telling someone else about the meeting including who you are meeting, where you are meeting and any other background information you know about this person.
 

Latest Polish Trafficking Project – "beginning of a new crisis …"

 

A new joint funded EU project to help victims of trafficking

Aim of the project
The main objective of the project is to stimulate professional and social twenty women who are excluded or at risk of social exclusion (including min. 12 women, the homeless). term of the project will be divided into two editions, and its performance is For the period twenty-three months ie from August 2013 to June 2015 Project activities: When editing the participants will be surrounded by comprehensive support psychotherapist, lawyer, coach and counselor who will create for each Individual Professional Development Path . Moreover, 60% of the beneficiaries and their children will be guaranteed accommodation in the Centre of the Association. All participants have the opportunity to pursue professional courses and six month placement. Participation of women in the project is free of charge. Beneficiaries of the project: Women not employed / unemployed in the age group 15-64 years, residents of Silesia.Click on the image below for more information and application form
polish project

Human trafficking measures welcomed

 

17th September 2013 – the Galloway Gazette news reports
 
“MSP Claudia Beamish and MP Russell Brown have welcomed a consultation on proposals to crack down on human trafficking and have highlighted the need to ensure that the port at Cairnryan does not offer a route for traffickers to bring people into Scotland against their will.” Read more on this human trafficking story

European Anti Trafficking Day October 18th 2013

 

 
Join us on European Anti Trafficking Day October 18th 2013 to raise awareness of Human Trafficking across Europe.
october 18th
Ways to help 
 
Say a prayer for a victim
Learn about how large the Human Trafficking problem is by looking through the resouces area on the RENATE website
Tell your friend about the problem of Human Trafficking
Get involved in anti human trafficking work

Morality in Media Urging Hilton to Follow Example

 

Hilton-Hotel-Arlington-Flickr
Will Hilton follow the example set by The Nordic Choice and Omni Hotels and Resorts, who have stopped selling pornography? (Bernt Rostad/Flickr/Creative Commons)

Morality in Media praises Scandinavian hotel chain The Nordic Choice, which announced the end of pornography in their 171 locations to stem child sex trafficking and sexual exploitation.
Petter Stordalen, owner of The Nordic Choice hotel chain, decided to act after working with Unicef’s campaign to help child victims of trafficking and sexual exploitation.
“The porn industry contributes to trafficking, so I see it as a natural part of having a social responsibility to send out a clear signal that Nordic Hotels doesn’t support or condone this,” Stordalen explains.
MIM Executive Director Dawn Hawkins says all U.S. hotel chains should follow suit.
“We urge Hilton to look at the reasons The Nordic Choice, and other chains such as Omni Hotels and Resorts, have stopped selling pornography,” Hawkins says. “Do they really want to be in the business of contributing to trafficking and sexual exploitation?”
 
Read more here: Morality in Media Urging Hilton to Follow Example
Source: http://www.charismanews.com

Scandinavian hotel chain removes porn from its TVs, replaces with art channels

 

Petter_Stordalen_2009-06-03_(bilde_05)
Petter Stordalen, owner of Nordic Choice hotels

OSLO, August 27, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – One of Norway’s major hotel chains has removed access to pay-TV porn and replaced it with contemporary art channels.
Petter Stordalen, owner of Nordic Choice hotels, said he will remove access to pornography in all of his establishments in favor of providing access to high-end contemporary art, according to aGuardian report.

Stordalen said he came to the decision after becoming involved in campaigns aimed at stopping human trafficking and sexual exploitation of children, which is fuelled by pornography.
“The porn industry contributes to trafficking, so I see it as a natural part of having a social responsibility to send out a clear signal that Nordic Hotels doesn’t support or condone this,” Stordalen said.
“It may sound shocking or unusual [to remove pay-TV porn], but everyone said that about the ban on smoking. We were the first hotel chain in the world to ban smoking and people thought we were crazy. Now it’s totally normal for public spaces to be smoke-free,” he added.
A spokesman from the chain’s flagship hotel in Oslo, The Thief, said that reaction to the no-porn rule has been positive.
 
Read more here: Scandinavian hotel chain removes porn from its TVs
Source: http://www.lifesitenews.com

 

 

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