Awareness and Formation Seminar

For Women Religious of African Countries On Counter-Trafficking

25-25 January 2007

Nairobi – Kenya

 

 

This warm greeting awaited the 25 participants when they arrived at the Novitiate of the Little Sisters of St. Joseph in Karen, Nairobi, for a conference on counteracting trafficking of women and children. This workshop was organized by SRTV (The Dutch Foundation of Religious Against Trafficking in Women) with funding from CMC (a Dutch Catholic Missionary Development Organization). The conference coincided with the World Social Forum in Nairobi, which highlighted trafficking on its agenda.

Participants came from Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, Cameroon, Malawi, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Kenya, primarily sisters and women from other faith-based groups working in this area. The training team members came from Europe and included: Ivonne van de Kar, (Director); Johan Naron, (Chairperson) from SRTV; Dorien Verbeek from CMC; Sr. Eugenia Bonetti from the Trafficking Office of the Italian Union of Major Superiors (USMI).

 

The three days were full and very informative. On the first day, after Ivonne introduced the team and the goals of the workshop, we had input on the UN protocols and definitions of what trafficking is: “modern-day slavery”. We worked in groups to look at the push and pull factors of trafficking, which has become a pandemic in recent years due to globalization. On the second day, after an intervention from Sr. Florence Nwaonuma of COSUDOW (Committee in Support of the Dignity of Women, Nigeria) on the sheltering of victims (survivors) and the group’s preventive measures and various programmes. It became evident that many people knew very little about trafficking and therefore awareness raising programmes were essential. The sisters from COSUDOW stressed the importance of identifying target groups, and equally important is to build good relationships with police, and immigration and government officials.

 

In the plenary sessions the sharing of stories, personal experience and situations awoke many emotions – anger, sorrow, pain, empathy, compassion and a determination to make more people aware of this global evil. On the third day, Sr. Eugenia spoke about the work of USMI, where religious from various congregations walk the street at night and talk to the women they meet there who are forced to prostitute themselves. They also visit detention centres, work with the Italian Government in repatriating, rehabilitating or reintegrating the trafficked women. She gave us various articles and the UISG Workshop Kit on Trafficking. She stressed the importance of networking, and establishing a contact person in the country. Her passionate plea was that Africa create a network among the Conferences of Religious and that each conference should appoint a contact person for the issue. This is the most effective way of counteracting trafficking. This highlighted that we can learn from each other and share our programme materials.

Each country group was asked to draw up a three-year plan of action and share this with the other groups. The countries were at various stages in the fight against trafficking, with Nigeria and Italy having a network of congregations already offering transit homes and an established shelter for rehabilitation and reintegration for trafficked women. It was from this desire to deepen contact and sharing of information and materials that ANAHT was born:

ANAHT – African Network Against Human Trafficking.

Encouraged by this networking with all groups dedicated to counteracting trafficking, we move forward to restore the dignity of women in Africa. We would like to thank the SRTV, CMC, Sr. Eugenia and the Little Sisters of St. Joseph for making this conference possible. And so we say Asante Sana.

Sr. Maureen Yenson OP (a partecipant from South Africa)