Hopelessness is not an option in the face of this evil

Those of you who know the Sisters of Providence know that one of the social justice issues to which we dedicate ourselves is working to end human trafficking. We began these efforts in earnest last year when Indianapolis hosted the 2012 Superbowl. This event opened our eyes to the extent of this evil practice.

Alert to the efforts on behalf of so many to end human trafficking, I’d like to draw your attention to Jan. 11 having been declared Human Trafficking Awareness Day. In 2007, the United States Senate passed a resolution establishing this date as a national “day of awareness and vigilance for the countless victims of human trafficking around the world.”

President Obama also proclaimed January as National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month.

So many excellent websites and resources are available to us for on-going education, for prayer service ideas, for ways to involve ourselves in actions to end modern day human slavery. The best place to start (in my completely unbiased opinion) is the website of the Sisters of Providence: www.spsmw.org.

There you will find a wealth of information – statistics, prayer ideas, links to other informative websites, suggestions for ways to take action against the sexual and human labor exploitation of persons – especially women and children.

The statistics concerning the number of victims of human trafficking, the dollar amounts of profit for the perpetrators, the age of the victims, the geographical scope of the problem can be overwhelming — making us question if anything at all can be done to end this tragedy, these crimes.

For me, hopelessness is not an option in the face of this evil — not for those of us who trust in the providence of God made real in the world through our actions and prayer.

I urge you to resist that hopelessness. Do not do nothing. At the very least, visit our website and prayerfully consider what possibilities for resistance you may find there.