Act to Combat Trafficking

A US$2.5 Billion business worldwide, human trafficking is a huge nuisance as well as a matter of great concern for every nation and community in this universe at present. Women and children, especially of the deprived section of the society, are lured, forced into illicit and illegal trades which sometimes are accountable for their deaths also. The Church on its part has a huge responsibility towards this mammoth menace disquieting humanity.
The Diocese of Durgapur, which has a protracted account of standing for the subalterns, with the help of Diocesan Women’s Fellowship for Christian Service and the Diocesan Board of Social Services organized a two day discussion on Human Trafficking on the 20th and 21st of March 2009 at the Diocesan Office compound. 50 women from all over the diocese were present to take part in the discussion.
The discussion opened with a short worship conducted by Rev. Swagata Das who refered to the book of Genesis chapter1:26,27 where it is written about God getting immense pleasure after He created Man in His own image and then Woman.
The two day dialogue was an enlightening one which incorporated sessions by scholars and activists in the field like Mr. Manabendra Mondal of S.L.A.R.T.C, Mr. A. Goswami from SANLAP and Rev. David Copley from the United States. The speakers informed about the various ways that humans are nowadays trafficked, the causes and the probable solutions for resisting trafficking. While Mr. Mondal and Mr. Goswami enlightened everybody about the various aspects of human trafficking, alluding to various cases from their experiences, bringing into light the dismal and inhuman, brutal, merciless and cold blooded nature of the traffickers and the mostly defenselessness of the trafficked victims, Rev. David Copley very appositely brought out the Biblical side citing that the human being was created in God’s own image and that too the greatest creation of all but which is being exploited to the brink due to the never quenching greed of mankind. He further emphasized that we as Christians are called to live in good relationship with each other and to remind all that we are God’s image and that God loves all madly, no matter what race, religion, color.
The sessions were trailed by interactive episodes which brought out various unasked questions that were infusing in the minds of the participators and in the course various probable solutions were also originated, which is guessed the participants will put in use in their locality when they go back.
Truly, discussions like these are the need of the hour which will persuade the people to rethink about their neighbors, especially those who live in abject poverty, who are the most vulnerable to trafficking. But sheer participation in discussions is not called for, what we as Christian are called for today is to ACT TO COMBAT TRAFFICKING.