FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 3, 2017

On February 23, Archbishop Bernardito Auza delivered a lecture entitled, “The Holy See and the Fight Against Human Trafficking,” upon his inauguration as the Casamarca Foundation Chair in Migration and Globalization Studies at Fordham University.
 
Archbishop Auza, who said an estimated 36 million people are affected by some form of trafficking, including a growing number of men, noted the various ways trafficking manifests in countries around the world,  including using human beings as sex slaves in prostitution and pornography, forced labor, compelled participation in illegal activities, child soldiering, forced marriages and child brides, illegal adoptions, the stealing of children from pregnant women, organ harvesting, and human sacrifice.
 
The issue of human trafficking has grown in significance among the international community in the past decade, he said, noting the increase of UN platforms that have drawn attention to the issue, including the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the New York Declaration on Refugees and Migrants and Security Council Open Debates. He said that while international attention and policies outlawing trafficking are important, more work is necessary to cut out the scourge at its root, especially for women and girls.
 
The text of his lecture can be found here.