Pope Francis denounced that human trafficking is a type of violence ” towards women and girls around the world”. The Holy Father was giving a video message on the occasion of the World Day of Prayer and Reflection against Trafficking in Persons.
The Pontiff inaugurated the Virtual Prayer Marathon at the beginning of the video message. He thanked the coordinators of this event promoted by the International Union of Superiors General and the Talitha Kum anti-trafficking network.
The Pontiff denounced that “the violence suffered by every woman and every girl is an open wound in the body of Christ, in the body of all humanity” and invited to reflect on the condition of women and girls “subjected to multiple forms of of exploitation, including through forced marriage, domestic slavery, and slave labor.”
In the video message, Pope Francis also stressed that there are “thousands of victims” and lamented that “the organization of societies throughout the world is still far from clearly reflecting the fact that women have the same dignity and identical rights as the men”.
“Women are doubly poor when they suffer situations of exclusion, mistreatment and violence because they often find themselves with fewer possibilities to defend their rights,” the Holy Father stressed.
Next, the Pope denounced the “role of subordinates” to which women are subjected by the “power of the masculine gender over the feminine”.
“Human trafficking is violence! The violence suffered by every woman and every girl is an open wound in the body of Christ, in the body of all humanity, it is a deep wound that also concerns each one of us. There are so many women who have the courage to rebel against violence. We men are also called to do so, to say no to all violence, including violence against women and girls”, he defended.