Church in Bid to Halt Human Trafficking
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops with support from the Justice Department, is enlisting individuals to help in its effort to stop human trafficking, a problem so fierce it has been labeled a growth industry with thousands of immigrants forced or coerced into bondage as prostitutes or laborers.
It's "a modern-day slavery," said Sister Mary Ellen Dougherty, a coordinator for the conference's program. "It's a worldwide problem. But it happens right here, too."
Dougherty travels the country holding teaching seminars for law-enforcement officials, social workers, community and outreach groups and regular citizens--anyone who might come in contact with victims, she said.
It could be a police officer who shuts down a prostitution ring or a parishioner who notices someone in the congregation who sits apart, afraid to speak to others.
The seminars offer insight into who is forced into labor, how to identify victims and how to get them help.
"It's an eye-opener," said Joann Hillebrand, an Oak Brook resident and former international chairwoman of the National Council of Catholic Women, who traveled to Baltimore to attend Dougherty's course.
Hillebrand wanted to better understand the problem and to teach other Catholic women in the Chicago area what to look for in victims.
"I think most Catholic women don't understand what it's about. They might say it's not happening here. But it does," said Hillebrand, 62. "Girls come to this country thinking they are working as domestics in the suburbs or the city, and they get here and find their life is not what they thought it would be."
They are women likely to go to mass, Hillebrand said, adding that she hasn't noticed any victims who fit the profile but is confident she has the training to do so.
Because so many immigrants, even those in servitude, attend religious services, the church can play an important role in tackling the problem, Dougherty said.
"The church has always played a role in immigrant life," she said, and that role is now more important than ever."
Dougherty's sessions also are helpful for those who work with immigrants on a day-to-day basis, advocacy workers say.
"You realize the importance of asking pointed questions to determine whether you are talking to a victim of trafficking," said Esra Khalil, a legal advocate for Apna Ghar, an organization that helps southeast Asian domestic violence victims in Chicago.
Instead of just asking "Where are you from?" a social worker might ask, "What were you told before you were sent here?" or "Have you been able to contact your relatives at home," she said.
Dougherty said victims usually fit a pattern affected by poverty and patriarchal cultures.
"There is an inability to speak for themselves," she said. "When you ask a question, they don't want to talk about themselves. Or, they can't because they are accompanied by someone who clearly won't let them talk and won't leave you alone with them."
But it isn't just women and girls who are affected, Dougherty said. "Many victims are men who are forced into labor and boys forced into labor or sex exploitation."
Dougherty, 68, who works in Washington, spoke about her work during a recent visit to Chicago, where in the 1970s she helped teach inmates at Cook County Jail how to read.
Her work with the bishops conference has financial backing from the Bush administration. The Justice Department has awarded grants of $500,000 each to the Catholic Church and to World Relief, an evangelical humanitarian agency, to identify victims and return them to safety.
Human trafficking is defined as the transporting of people from one country to another through methods of force, coercion or fraud, Dougherty said. Such people are sold into bondage as prostitutes, domestic workers, child laborers and child soldiers worldwide.
Information on the extent of the problem is difficult to obtain because so many incidents presumably go unreported. But U.S. officials estimate that 700,000 people each year are trafficked within or across international boundaries.
In the U.S., some 17,000 human beings are forced or lured across its borders annually, according to the Justice Department, which calculated the numbers using information compiled from the news media, governments and non-government organizations.
The Chicago Police Department does not document the number of victims encountered in human-trafficking cases, because those cases often cross state or international boundaries and therefore are turned over to federal authorities, a spokesman said.
"It isn't as big a problem here as it is in places closer to the borders," said police Sgt. Robert Cargie. "But it's a problem we are aware of."
Two years ago, Chicago police recognized that three women arrested in Chinatown for prostitution-related offenses were Asian immigrants needing assistance. The women were turned over to immigration authorities to determine whether they were victims of human trafficking.
Heartland Alliance, an immigrant advocacy organization that sees human trafficking as a growing problem in Chicago, also has received $500,000 in federal funds to work with area victims.
Trafficking persists because victims are pushed to keep quiet, said Elissa Steglich, an immigration attorney at the Midwest Immigration and Human Rights Center, which works with Heartland Alliance. "They live in extreme isolation and fear," she said. "Our challenge is to break that silence."
By Shia Kapos
Special to the Tribune
Published August 20, 2004
Copyright © 2004, Chicago Tribune
It's "a modern-day slavery," said Sister Mary Ellen Dougherty, a coordinator for the conference's program. "It's a worldwide problem. But it happens right here, too."
Dougherty travels the country holding teaching seminars for law-enforcement officials, social workers, community and outreach groups and regular citizens--anyone who might come in contact with victims, she said.
It could be a police officer who shuts down a prostitution ring or a parishioner who notices someone in the congregation who sits apart, afraid to speak to others.
The seminars offer insight into who is forced into labor, how to identify victims and how to get them help.
"It's an eye-opener," said Joann Hillebrand, an Oak Brook resident and former international chairwoman of the National Council of Catholic Women, who traveled to Baltimore to attend Dougherty's course.
Hillebrand wanted to better understand the problem and to teach other Catholic women in the Chicago area what to look for in victims.
"I think most Catholic women don't understand what it's about. They might say it's not happening here. But it does," said Hillebrand, 62. "Girls come to this country thinking they are working as domestics in the suburbs or the city, and they get here and find their life is not what they thought it would be."
They are women likely to go to mass, Hillebrand said, adding that she hasn't noticed any victims who fit the profile but is confident she has the training to do so.
Because so many immigrants, even those in servitude, attend religious services, the church can play an important role in tackling the problem, Dougherty said.
"The church has always played a role in immigrant life," she said, and that role is now more important than ever."
Dougherty's sessions also are helpful for those who work with immigrants on a day-to-day basis, advocacy workers say.
"You realize the importance of asking pointed questions to determine whether you are talking to a victim of trafficking," said Esra Khalil, a legal advocate for Apna Ghar, an organization that helps southeast Asian domestic violence victims in Chicago.
Instead of just asking "Where are you from?" a social worker might ask, "What were you told before you were sent here?" or "Have you been able to contact your relatives at home," she said.
Dougherty said victims usually fit a pattern affected by poverty and patriarchal cultures.
"There is an inability to speak for themselves," she said. "When you ask a question, they don't want to talk about themselves. Or, they can't because they are accompanied by someone who clearly won't let them talk and won't leave you alone with them."
But it isn't just women and girls who are affected, Dougherty said. "Many victims are men who are forced into labor and boys forced into labor or sex exploitation."
Dougherty, 68, who works in Washington, spoke about her work during a recent visit to Chicago, where in the 1970s she helped teach inmates at Cook County Jail how to read.
Her work with the bishops conference has financial backing from the Bush administration. The Justice Department has awarded grants of $500,000 each to the Catholic Church and to World Relief, an evangelical humanitarian agency, to identify victims and return them to safety.
Human trafficking is defined as the transporting of people from one country to another through methods of force, coercion or fraud, Dougherty said. Such people are sold into bondage as prostitutes, domestic workers, child laborers and child soldiers worldwide.
Information on the extent of the problem is difficult to obtain because so many incidents presumably go unreported. But U.S. officials estimate that 700,000 people each year are trafficked within or across international boundaries.
In the U.S., some 17,000 human beings are forced or lured across its borders annually, according to the Justice Department, which calculated the numbers using information compiled from the news media, governments and non-government organizations.
The Chicago Police Department does not document the number of victims encountered in human-trafficking cases, because those cases often cross state or international boundaries and therefore are turned over to federal authorities, a spokesman said.
"It isn't as big a problem here as it is in places closer to the borders," said police Sgt. Robert Cargie. "But it's a problem we are aware of."
Two years ago, Chicago police recognized that three women arrested in Chinatown for prostitution-related offenses were Asian immigrants needing assistance. The women were turned over to immigration authorities to determine whether they were victims of human trafficking.
Heartland Alliance, an immigrant advocacy organization that sees human trafficking as a growing problem in Chicago, also has received $500,000 in federal funds to work with area victims.
Trafficking persists because victims are pushed to keep quiet, said Elissa Steglich, an immigration attorney at the Midwest Immigration and Human Rights Center, which works with Heartland Alliance. "They live in extreme isolation and fear," she said. "Our challenge is to break that silence."
By Shia Kapos
Special to the Tribune
Published August 20, 2004
Copyright © 2004, Chicago Tribune
posted by R7 | 8/21/2004 02:34:00 PM
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