Today is the International Day of Prayer and Awareness against Human Trafficking and feast day of St. Josephine Bakhita, a former slave. Catholic Relief Services provides more information and ideas on how to raise awareness to the issue.
A Prayer for an End to Human Trafficking (from Catholic Relief Services)
Oh God, we didn’t see them.
But you did—
The hundreds and thousands of human beings
Trafficked each year to join the millions who are trapped in
modern-day slavery
Under terrible conditions, they work in factories, plough fields,
harvest crops, work quarries, fill brothels, clean homes, and
haul water.
Many are children with tiny fingers for weaving rugs
and small shoulders for bearing rifles.
Their labor is forced, their bodies beaten, their faces hidden
from those who don’t really want to see them.
But you see them all, God of the poor.
You hear their cry and you answer by
Opening our eyes, and breaking our hearts
And loosening our tongues to insist:
No mas. No more.
Amen.
ACCU Peace and Justice 