PACTPAN launches campaign against Human Trafficking
Stanislas Kambashi, SJ, and Paul Samasumo – Vatican City
The PACTPAN webinar’s theme was “Restoring Hope to Africa.”
Established by Pope Francis in 2015, the feast of Saint Josephine Bahkita, celebrated in the whole Church on 8 February, is now recognized as Anti-Human Trafficking Day. The day marks the conclusion of a week of activities focused on raising awareness and praying for victims and those trying to eradicate the vice. This year’s eleventh Bahkita Day coincides with the Church’s Jubilee Year.
Saint Josephine Bakhita was an enslaved Sudanese girl who later became a Canossian religious sister in Italy.
This year, PACTPAN decided to launch its awareness and consciousness-raising campaign to prompt actions aimed at ending human trafficking and modern slavery. Participants in this conference connected virtually from Africa, Europe, and America. The main guest speaker of the day was Uganda’s Vice President, Jessica Alupo, who delivered a keynote address.
In her introductory remarks before the prayer moment, Sister Leonida Katunge, Coordinator of the project against human trafficking in Africa, emphasised that the participants had come together as a “team to confront the grave injustice of human trafficking, a crime that continues to deprive countless individuals of the dignity and freedom God has granted them,” she said.
The webinar’s highlight was the keynote address delivered by Jessica Alupo, the Vice President of the Republic of Uganda. She is a former military officer.
The Challenges of Labor Export
Ms Alupo spoke on the theme, “Restoring Hope in Africa: A Jubilee Call to End Human Trafficking.” She emphasised that human rights violations transcend borders, cultures, and economies. She found it disturbing that the export of labour to other countries today stands side by side with the illegal trafficking of humans.
“When the legal export of labour operates alongside the underground illegal trafficking of humans, while at the same time, hundreds of thousands of desperate young men and women try to escape poverty, wars, and disease, they fall into the hands of traffickers, slave traders, or die of exhaustion in deserts, or are devoured in jungles or drown at sea ... an uncanny normalcy is created. It goes unseen or is ignored, yet it remains an ever-growing stain on our collective humanity,” she said.
Human trafficking: a global crisis
The Vice President stressed that human trafficking is not merely a national issue but a global crisis that requires a concerted and multifaceted response. With an estimated 40 million individuals trapped in various forms of modern slavery, Ms. Alupo painted a grim picture of exploitation through forced labour, sexual exploitation, and other heinous practices targeting the most vulnerable members of society.
She decried the misuse of advancements in technology and social media, which now provide traffickers with new tools for recruitment and exploitation, complicating efforts to combat this scourge.
Trafficking does not just affect victims
Alluding to positive anti-human trafficking legislation passed by the Government of Uganda, Ms Alupo called for urgent action and collaborative efforts from various sectors—including religious leaders, legal experts, NGOs, and the private sector—to combat the scourge. She emphasised that it is not merely a legal or operational challenge but a moral imperative that requires a unified stand against this violation of fundamental human rights.
In conclusion, Ms. Alupo reminded participants that human trafficking is not just about victims. It is about human dignity, justice, and freedom for all. The Jubilee Year, Ms. Alupo said, invites everyone to be an ambassador of hope. Human trafficking concerns all, and everyone has an individual responsibility to become a beacon of hope and a defender of the integrity and dignity of all persons across Africa and beyond.
A challenge for PACTPAN national chapters
Other speakers at the webinar included one of the conveners and coordinators of the Pan-African Catholic Theology and Pastoral Network (PACTPAN), the renowned Professor Fr. Stan Chu Ilo. He rallied participants and urged them on, saying that the various national PACTPANs needed to hit the ground running with the new anti-human trafficking project. “We must replicate what has happened here and repeat the same in our various nations. Let us build partnerships with our Bishops and our brothers and sisters from other churches and faiths. We need strong, effective, courageous, and strategic national PACTPAN chapters,” Fr. Stan said.
The trauma of Survivors
Peter Benjamin, a human trafficking survivor, shared the story of his ordeal from Benin, Edo State, to captivity in Libya, where traffickers violently beat him and others in a bid to force their relatives in Nigeria to send money as payment for their release. A failed escape attempt led to Benjamin being stabbed by the traffickers.
For her part, Kenyan national Deborah, also a survivor of human trafficking, spoke about her ordeal in Saudi Arabia between 2020 and 2022. Instead of domestic work, she ended up as an enslaved person. She said four of her colleagues died during this time. She has now dedicated her life to rescuing other women still trapped in similar conditions and her network has since helped over 700 trafficked persons. The traffickers are, however, not happy with her activism, and she is constantly on the move for fear of those who want to silence her.
Enough! Africa must rise and act
“Today, we all say: Enough! Africa must rise and act. As PACTPAN, we have a mission: to end modern slavery,” Sister Katunge emphasised at the beginning of the webinar. The Kenyan nun stated that the PACTPAN network intends to fulfil its mission by raising awareness, educating communities, and empowering them to recognise the signs of trafficking and take preventive measures. She advocated for “stricter policies and enforcement measures against traffickers and those who fuel this diabolical trade,” said the Kenyan religious.
PACTPAN also intends to conduct its campaign by saving, rehabilitating, and reintegrating survivors of trafficking through pastoral care, psychological support, and economic empowerment. The network also aims to partner with religious and civic leaders to transform the world into a society that protects its most vulnerable members rather than making them prey, Sister Katunge declared.
Linking the theme of the 2025 Jubilee and the webinar, she stated that the call is the same: to free the captives and end human trafficking. The Jubilee Year, she reminded, “calls us to renew our commitment to justice and to work tirelessly to eradicate modern slavery.”
Silence is not an option
“Human trafficking is a pervasive evil that affects every corner of our continent,” the nun observed. Among these forms of trafficking, “recent reports indicate a troubling rise in child trafficking and forced labour, exacerbated by factors such as poverty, conflict, and climate change,” Sr. Katunge said. These challenges, she noted, require a common and “compassionate” response from all sectors of society. Faith compels us to act. “Silence in the face of such injustice is not an option. We must raise our voices, advocate for vulnerable individuals, and implement concrete actions to dismantle the structures that enable human trafficking.” In this sense, Saint Josephine Bakhita is a model; despite the sufferings of slavery, she found hope and freedom through her faith. “Her life teaches us that even in the darkest circumstances, the light of hope can shine.” Engaging against these reprehensible realities is a way to honour Saint Bahkita’s legacy; thus, we can become “bearers of this light, working together to restore hope and freedom to all who are enslaved.” In a joint effort and solidarity, we can end human trafficking in Africa, Sister Katunge stated.
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