The evil of human trafficking

The Catholic Bishops of Florida have designated January 29-30 as Human Trafficking Awareness Weekend.

The Bishops of Florida have issued a statement urging Catholics to take the steps necessary to become educated and active in the fight against this assault on human dignity.

This video, Invisible Chains, was developed by the Bishops' Ad Hoc Committee on Human Trafficking.

"We call upon the Florida faithful to be actively engaged in the fight against the evil of human trafficking," the bishops said.

"The Human Trafficking Awareness Campaign is intended to educated those who may come in contact with victims in churches, health care facilities, schools or the community so they can identify and report in order to rescue victims from their abusers."

Florida is a prime destination for traffickers because of agriculture and tourism, both of which use workers from other countries.

Women and children are particularly at risk, the bishops said, and are forced into prostitution, pornography and sexual entertainment.

Traffickers find it easy to bring close to a million victims into the United States with lures of money and work, then selling them into bondage.

Read the Florida Bishops' Statement (English) | Read more about the Florida Catholic Conference Human Trafficking public awareness campaign.