pathways, OCTOBER 2007
Australia's best practices in the work against trafficking in persons (TIP) will be presented to an international gathering of women Religious, in Rome, by Brisbane's Sr Pauline Coll SGS, this month.
Sr Pauline (
pictured right) will be one of 34 Sisters representing 29 Congregations from 27 countries at a five-day anti-trafficking training session,
Building a Network: The Prophetic Role of Women Religious in the Fight Against Trafficking in Persons.
Among the lectures given and discussion led by TIP experts from the United States, the Holy See, the Italian government, religious congregations (women and men), and faith-based NGOs, a critical element of information exchange will be the daily Country Reports.
Each participant will present a 15-minute overview of the status of TIP in her country, and the best practices used by women religious to combat it. Each report will highlight evidence of the need for the Sisters' engagement in their respective national and regional contexts, while also arguing for further development and strengthening of a global network comprised of both women and men religious.
To highlight and solidify results, the final day of the training seminar will feature a public session, open to members of the Vatican, religious congregations, the Italian government, Vatican media corps, representatives of the Holy See Diplomatic Corps, as well as academic and NGO communities.
The seminar, to develop and strengthen networking and communication skills among women religious while promoting best-practice, will be sponsored by the US Embassy to the Holy See and the Italian Union of Major Superiors (USMI).
One of the key people behind the gathering is Sr Eugenia Bonetti, a Consolata Missionary and National Coordinator of the Counter-Trafficking Office with the Italian Union of Major Superiors (USMI).
Sr Eugenia was acknowledged as a "Woman of Courage" in March 2007 by Paula Dobriansky, U.S. Undersecretary for Democracy and Global Affairs, and as one of six "Heroes Acting to End Modern-Day Slavery" in the 2004 TIP Report published by the U.S. Department of State's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. She was a member of the initial leadership team of Embassy Vatican's 2004 TIP training programme, in conjunction with USMI, the International Union of Superiors General [UISG] and the International Organization for Migration [IOM].
Her years of experience have taught her that while religious women have a natural capacity to address the spiritual and pastoral needs of TIP victims, they need training to effectively deal with victims' security and day-to-day practical needs (e.g. housing, personal security, restoration of documents, programs of reintegration, healing process). Sr Eugenia has identified the need to focus on networking and communications skills, while devising mechanisms which allow the nuns to effectively and broadly exchange best practices and develop capacities and campaigns to raise awareness about the phenomenon and their efforts to eradicate it.
An expectation on those attending is that each Sister has a capacity to further the work on her return to her own country.
Sr Pauline is the national co-ordinator for ACRATH - Australian Catholic Religious Against Trafficking in Humans, a national organisation comprised of members of
many different Religious Congregations and a number of consultant experts.
Catholic Religious Australia (CRA) at its 2007 Assembly in Perth
formally accepted the challenge of working against the trafficking of women, children and men. CRA's 180 members pledged to "do what we can within our structures and ministries to promote justice and healing for victims of trafficking". The members also agreed that CRA should take a "collective and public stance" against trafficking in women, children and men. This gave formal CRA recognition to the work of ACRATH, which had been supported by a substantial number of congregations, individually.
Building a Network: The Prophetic Role of Women Religious in the Fight Against Trafficking in Persons will be held at the Institute of Maria SS. Bambina in Via Paolo VI, 21, near St Peter's Square, from October 15-20.
Sr Paulline along with several other religious Sisters and academics involved with this work in Australia spoke with David Busch on Encounter: A Light at the Door, on ABC Radio of September 23.
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