Jan. 11 Pray for prevention efforts and those who are vulnerable

Intercessory Prayer

For the innocents who suffer under the sinful abuse of slavery and for conversion of the utterly lost souls who hold them captive and exploit them, we pray to the Lord.

For reflection

• Human trafficking happens in every community. That means each of us can do something to stop it. As Pope Francis has stated: “Human trafficking is an open wound on the body of contemporary society, a scourge upon the body of Christ.”
• Human trafficking happens in big cities, in suburbs and small towns.
• Human trafficking is often confused with human smuggling, which involves illegal border crossings. In fact, the crime of human trafficking does not require any movement whatsoever. Survivors can be recruited and trafficked in their own hometowns, even their own homes.
• There are three types of human trafficking: sex trafficking, forced labor and domestic servitude.
• Truck stops, hotels and private homes are among the places where people are sold for commercial sex.
• Forced labor is when victims work for little or no pay. Factories, farms and construction work are all places where people are forced to make products or food we consume with no or little compensation.
• Domestic servitude includes nannies, maids or domestic help. Often women, these modern-day slaves are hidden in plain sight and held against their will because their identification papers and travel documents are taken by their traffickers.

Call to action

Review these Ten Ways to End Human Trafficking: https://www.acf.hhs.gov/otip/about/ways-endtrafficking. How can you help end human trafficking?