Feb. 25, 2015

Lake Placid - Despite dire weather predictions, a small group gathered at St. Agnes School Feb. 8 for a presentation on Human Trafficking. 

Members of Catholic Daughters, Court Dr. Tom Dooley, #2183 had decided a year previous that this was a topic that needed to be brought to the public’s attention.  Coincidentally, the date of the presentation corresponded with the Feast day of St. Josephine Bakhita, a day declared by Pope Francis, as the first International Day of Prayer and Awareness against Human Trafficking. Bishop Terry LaValley had requested that all parishes within the diocese commemorate this day in some fashion.

The presentation consisted of a Power Point developed by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops/Migration and Refugee Services.  It was divided into three parts:
• Catholic Teaching on human trafficking and what is human trafficking? (Presented by Emma Lou Smith)

•  Who are victims of human trafficking and what specific situations exist in which individuals can be trapped? (Presented by Sheila Venezia)

• What are the signs and what to do if you suspect a case of human trafficking (Presented by Pat Beneshan).
Father John Yonkovig opened the meeting with a prayer, and Pat Beneshan follow With an introduction. 

As part of the Power Point, eight statements, true or false were broached to ascertain participant’s knowledge of human trafficking.  While the answers to six of the eight statements were generally known, two elicited more incorrect than correct answers. 

These two statements are as follows “Human trafficking is usually in the form of sexual exploitation, such as prostitution” and the second “Most victims of human trafficking are kidnapped and do not know their captors.” Both of these statements are false and the presentation further expanded on the reasons. 

While human trafficking occurs in all countries, including the U.S., the predominant type of trafficking varies depending on the part of the world in which it occurs. Another variable is the nationalities of those trafficked.  However in nearly all areas of the world, women and girls outnumber men and boys while East Asians make up the majority of those trafficked.

In the United States the gender of the victim is 56% female while the type of trafficking can be divided into labor 72%, sex 20% and a combination of both 8%.

The session closed with a prayer for those enslaved.  The prayer was written by Catholic Relief Services and can be viewed on Confrontglobalpoverty.org. A variety of reading materials and brochures with references were available.