January 11, 2012, was National Human Trafficking Awareness Day.  As much as we would like to believe that slavery and human trafficking are only horrific aspects of our collective past, these tremendous abuses of human rights and human dignity have in some form continued to exist throughout the world and, in fact, are experiencing a dramatic resurgence in recent years. The details vary from country to country, but, put simply, human trafficking is the coerced use of human beings as objects of commerce. It is a reemergence of slave labor and extreme forms of sexual exploitation.

In the last few years, the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force has provided services to over 100 victims who have been victimized here or are now living in Orange County.  Orange County is a growing “destination point” for trafficking, and people of faith need to understand how our community is involved in allowing trafficking, what it looks like, and how we can get involved and take action to stop it. 

On February 9, 2012, St. Bonaventure hosted speakers on the subject of Human Trafficking in Orange County.  We heard details of how the Orange County community is involved in allowing the scourge of human trafficking to grow, what trafficking looks like, and how we can get involved and take action to stop it.  Speakers were:

• Sister Sharon Becker, CSJ, and Sister Barbara Jean Lee, CSJ, members of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange, who have committed the gift of themselves and their Congregation’s resources to educate, minister and collaborate with others to abolish human trafficking and slavery.
• Sherri Harris, MPH, who is with the Salvation Army and is the Program Director of the Network of Emergency Trafficking Services in Orange County; she provides case management and collaborates with the Sisters in the fight against trafficking.