February 8, 2019
All Day
Saint Josephine Bakhita is pictured here in a prayer alcove at the Canossian Spirituality Center in Albuquerque.
On Feb. 8, the Feast Day of Saint Josephine Bakhita, we invite you to join us and millions of others around the world in the Day of Prayer for survivors and victims of human trafficking. Download the prayer service from the U.S. Catholic Sisters Against Human Trafficking (USCSAHT) or download the Prayer for an End to Human Trafficking by Sister Gen Cassani, SSND.
Trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery. Each year an estimated 700,000 to 1.5 million people worldwide fall victim to international traffickers. These victims, predominately women and children, are forced into unpaid labor, debt bondage, coerced prostitution or sexual servitude, often under the direction of international organized crime rings. The trafficking of human beings is the third largest source of profit for international organized crime, after drugs and arms, with revenue amounting to billions of dollars each year.
School Sisters of Notre Dame, committed to work actively to eliminate the root causes of injustices, have responded to this problem in a number of ways and made the struggle against trafficking one of their priorities.