Human Trafficking - A Faith and Justice Perspective 

November 21st in Maynooth University.  

Agenda Below

APT members in attendance at this Maynooth Conference. 

Sr. Abby Avelino

Introduction to the event in Maynooth

We were first told that there must be an emphasis on dignity. Pope Francis said: "Human trafficking is an open wound on the body of contemporary society, a scourge upon the body of Christ. It is a crime against humanity."

(10 Apr 2014). We are reminded that the doing of Justice is not an optional extra but is a doing of the gospel.

We are being asked to consider how might the church, the  state and society work together.

Sr. Abby Avelino is a Maryknoll Sister, an engineer, who worked in Japan and began her work in trafficking in the Philippines. In 2022 she was appointed head of Talitha Kum(TK).  We should never under estimate the work of sisters and her work is an example to us all as to how and why we need to do this work.

See Slides Below

Abby Avelino. Talitha Kum (TK).

Abby took the opportunity to remember women and children on Nov 25th, the UN Day to commemorate the ending of violence against women and children. She asked us to take a moment for victims and survivors. Abby explained that she met women and men as victims of abuse in Japan and many of them were victims of human trafficking. People leave home in the hope of better, but were grabbed when they landed and from then on they had no time off. They wanted to die and but for the thought of their families, many may well have.

People trapped in labour and despair and TK, through the power of God, asks us to have hope. TK -  little girl arise.

Abby recounts the story of a 16 year old survivor who was miserable, her exploiter threatened her and her mother but she escaped to safety. She had a dream of building a shelter for victims. She is now an ambassador of hope. Victims can and do become advocates for the voiceless. Our strength is our ability to networks. Within 48 hours we (TK) can effect a rescue.

As a member of TK, our life is challenging, a recent case of a trafficked person from Uganda 🇺🇬  who was trafficked to Sweden 🇸🇪 is now on her way home but insists that she wants nobody to know what has happened to her. She is traumatised. Our strength is to accompany the victims and we listen, and this is an important part of our work.

People only move for a better life or to be safe. HT is growing in every country, not just in developing countries. The TK mantra is 'Dignity and Fulness'.

Upwards of 623,700 people have been reached in TK's prevention work. It is also our work to work with those at risk of being trafficked. Education is essential. Working locally is key and we work with all who will help to eliminate trafficking. It is also very important to involve and train the youth. We train to sustain! Young people need to be protagonists in the fight against trafficking and so we started the Youth Ambassadors programme.

Call to action - United in prayer.

40,000 victims were supported by TK in 2023. This is the hope we want to share with you. There are many difficulties but there is a determination to work for those who need us. We remain committed to addressing the systemic causes at all levels.

We're not here just to talk about it... this is our call to action. We espouse a  culture of dignity and an economy of care. We dream of a world without HT, we are called to be Ambassadors of Hope.

Story of Rebirth of a queen (YouTube). Our actions have the power to transform and change lives and restore a dignity and fullness. Everyone has a role in this.

Detective Superintendent Garda Noonan!

Heading up the DSGBV Related crime and investigations unit.  This is difficult, emotional work. It is manned by 80 people in Dublin and 350 people around the country. 

There is a common thread in the case of Human Trafficking and that is that victims are repeatedly victimised. This is not the case when we talk of offenses that relate to drugs and guns. In this case drugs and guns are the commodity! In Human Trafficking the commodity is the person and is much more serious. HT is a behavioural offense and gathering evidence is difficult. Sexual abuse, Domestic Violence and Human Trafficking are the top three priorities for the public. There is a lot of good law in Ireland and this is necessary to be able to apply the law in hopes of a successful prosecution.

To prove a case we need to offer on the method, the means and the purpose. This is what the DPP needs in order to proceed. 

The Gardai would not be fans of the TIP report as it doesn't give a balanced view.  We will never be Tier 1 for the TIP REPORT. 

You should know that... in 

Are we failing or are  we are getting better?

We are all meeting VoTs

There are ongoing investigations in all areas of Human trafficking at present. Garda Noonan insists that HT is in evidence in every town in Ireland, in every large institution and perhaps too in the Garda College, in Tempelmore.

Facilitating and assisting organised crime are other ways of proceeding against transnational poly-criminals.

HT invades the victims entire lives in a way that smugglers don't.

Debt bondage and individual threats against family members are unique factors of this crime. There is a lot of movement of cash. Garada Noonan referred to 'Vans and cars' heading to Romania full of cash. There are also many apps (Revolut, Remitly and others) that facilitate the easy movement of cash across borders. 

Human Trafficking as a crime is highly organised. Everyone has a role play for example one guys job is to just keep renting properties so that if discovered they can move quickly and seamlessly. Garda Noonan spoke of the grim discovery of  a Vietnamese gentleman found to be living on a wooden palette with nothing to eat but dog food.


'Smurfing' is the breakup of large amounts of money into smaller chunks for ease of movement. Traffickers are clever in that they mix the illegal income with investment in other schemes to disguise earnings and confuse investigators.

The Gardai are noticing that certain areas in Nigeria are the source of women as victims of human trafficking arriving in Ireland.

Today there are  between 700 and 1000 women selling sex on a Dublin website and the most viewed are the youngest. Societies are choosing the youngest and so there needs to be a normative shift. Those isolated, addicted and runaways, and victims of domestic violence are the most likely victims. Then there is the 'lover-boy' practice that is actively entrapping people. There is a huge sharing of child abuse victims. The digital world is not the huge recruiter yet that it might be. Being agile is a key feature of trafficker, to be organised and mobile. There is a growing element of victims of human trafficking being criminalised and this must be accepted.

Students 'Mueling' accounts is one way that licit earnings are laundered and the Gardai have EVIDENCE of one man managing 2500 accounts!

Current investigations are ongoing in Ireland and Buzau in Romania and in the UK. Operation R -  is the formation of a joint investigation team (JIT) and this seems to be the only way to keep going.

The DPP needs to be sure before he moves to prosecute that the judiciary, police and others understand the deal with such human trafficking investigations. The Gardai successfully appealed the sentences of those convicted in Mullingar.

There is definitely an appetite to create a greater awareness of Human Trafficking.

These slides are restricted to our viewing only. Garda Noonan was clear on this. 

Kevin Hyland on the background to HT.

It's all about decent work. We should know that it was an Irishman who developed ILO into what it is. ... to bring about progressively and as soon as possible the end to slavery in 1926... but where are we now?99.5% of victims are going untraced and unidentified. It appears that there is only 1 conviction for every 7000 victims. In 2013 there were 7000 convictions and this is growing but despite this slavery is increasing and the number of relative convictions is lower.

Article 4 slavery ! Can never be broken.

Victims must be able to claim compensation for they're illegal labor exploitation. Countries have responsibilities! Victims can apply in Ireland 🇮🇪 to the competent party to be identified and to be accompanied but the relevant documentation makes it so difficult to apply to be a victim. We need to take Ireland to the court of human rights in the issue of human rights on the basis that victims shouldn't be forced to apply... the process needs to be simplified.


SDG 8.7, There are only 5 years to go, by which time the SDGs must be achieved. Review...Sec Gen said the world is falling short but some of the developing nations are showing us that progress on the HT  SDGs can be made. 

Even after prosecutions there seems to be a reluctance to go after the money or profit made from the work of slaves.

Where is the money? There needs to be mandatory reporting of money movements where it is suspected that human trafficking happens. This is often referred to as blood money. It is a call to take action to restore dignity and...to do nothing is to be complicit. Too many are closing their eyes. We cannot wait for others to do what needs to be done. 22000 children die each year in hazardous Labour annually. If two planes crashed, CEO is sacked, huge publicity, holidays cancelled people infuriated...we need this type  of reaction when we hear of so many children dying when really they should be in school.

Some other points of note.

We were steeped to have the Bronze Replica of Timothy Schmalz's piece, Let the Oppressed Go Free at this Human Trafficking Conference.  

 Dr. Eithne O Regan Catholic Social Teaching(CST) 

Human Trafficking and CST.

CST slow to respond but what of the:

1. Role of experience

2. Role of dialogue with all.

3. Interdisciplinary engagement with other doctrines.

HT and the  intentional collaboration with enforcement organisations. Terminology...is of no use to the victims...the language of the Palermo Protocol is difficult but necessary.

Gustaves Guttirez when speaking out against slave trade said, 'Trafficking has been a long time activity of the colonial project. It is an old question for the church'.

When is a child no longer a child?  When he / she is but a worker, a trafficked victim. 

Fishing depends on migrant workers and regularly enslaves. 

There came a brutality with hard labour in the Tuna industry and such an industry tells a very dark story.

Labour exploitation and the link to exploitation of our common home now in evidence.

We are all being challenged and the query now is how do we react to these challenges?

At a doctrinal level... Catholic catechism...7th commandment - leading to the enslavement of the human being is a sin against the dignity of the person and their rights.

It is a sin! It is a moral issue. It is understood as part of stealing, a theft of the person - stealing the potential of a person.

A scourge upon the body of Christ. There is the 'Weaponisation' of hope by traffickers.

What of those who are demanding the services of the trafficked? A scandal a shame evil! (Pope Francis on HT)

There is as wide a range of victims as there is a diversity of perpetrators. Corruption of the heart as we share a common humanity means that victims seem to be regarded as less, and there are those who find this acceptable. In such a context there is a cancelling of  'the understanding of the person'. One of the gravest violations of human dignity.

How does CST understand VoTs....? We must remember that there is an obvious preferential option for the victims of HT.

Coercion is a complex and contested issue. Trafficked people as ethically passive. We need a more nuanced understanding of coercion. We must remember to keep trafficked persons in the decision making seat. This is not to undermine the need to protect. Protection is imperative. VoTs can make choices and we should not blame them, nor should they be asked to provide evidence or proof of being trafficked. The gift and art of accompanying is given to many today. Not to listen for them but to them.

In Understanding the Perpetrators! Trafficking in human beings is by human beings. How can we understand them? What can we do or think when a victim becomes the exploiter? It must be a factor!Trafficking thrives in the intersectionality of varied marginalised groups.

Pope Francis.

Solid commitment alone is not enough. The church must be involved in the politics of the day. What is missing is a unified attack or approach to HT. HT is as complex as it is dark and therefore there is a need for structured collaborations. We need a structured and organised ecumenical collaboration. Climate justice demands a similar collaboration. Questions of demand and supply is not too dissimilar to the issues facing ecology and economics. The church must be called to model human dignity and care, to proactively engage to end to HT. Listen to those who suffer, listen to their pain, their dreams and being present to their reality with is an imperative if we are to see a world where all people can be free and we must act to bring this about.

What does CST do to sustain us in the struggle?

Courage patience perseverance is what is required! Pope Francis!

We are aware of 3 challenges that have been overcome.

For real and lasting change perseverance is key and these took decades to change.