+Benedictine Sisters, Monastery of St. Gertrude, Cottonwood, Idaho

[ Up ] [ Peace Statement ] [ Prayers for Peace ] [ 2003 Focus ] [ 2004 Focus ]

Social Justice Committee

2003-2004

Violence Against Women and Children

Human Trafficking

DEFINITION OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING

 “Human trafficking is defined as the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services through the use of force, fraud, or coercion, for the purpose of subjecting that person to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.”

            (Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000)

HUMAN TRAFFICKING STATEMENT

Monastery of St. Gertrude

Cottonwood, Idaho

 We believe that human life is a sacred gift from our Creator.  Each person is made in the image and likeness of God and has a fundamental right to live, learn, work and pray in a safe environment.  The victims of human trafficking have been robbed of their human dignity.  Hence, it is with great outrage that we protest this heinous crime of our day.

 Recognizing the connections among poverty, sexism and violence in our world and knowing that the inaction, indifference and silence on the part of many have made it possible for human trafficking to continues, we the Sisters and Oblates of the Monastery of St. Gertrude pledge: 

  1. to continue to educate ourselves in the area of human trafficking, particularly as it affects women and children
  2. to become a voice of justice for those who have become human cargo
  3. to call for and activate the education of the broader community to this plight
  4. to raise awareness through the distribution of informational materials
  5. to challenge companies whose products are produced in an environment of slavery
  6. to buy products from co-ops that enable women and children to escape trafficking
  7. to become aware of and to challenge stores that sell hard core pornography
  8. to support and work with organizations and politicians already committed to the elimination of human trafficking
  9. to draw attention to the connections among poverty, sexism and violence in the world of entertainment
  10. to work with our diocesan program of anti-human trafficking and to explore the possibility of becoming a safe haven for victims.

 This statement will be reviewed after two (2) years.

 Approved by the Monastic Community, August 3, 2005

Approved by the Oblate Community, December 1, 2005

[ Home ] [ Membership ] [ Monastery ] [ What's New ] [ Ministry ]

For a map and directions on how to find us click here

Link Policy

© 1997-2006
 Idaho Corporation of Benedictine Sisters
Monastery of  St. Gertrude
465 Keuterville Road
Cottonwood, ID 83522-5183
208-962-3224
FAX  208-962-7212
contact:  Webweaver
monastery@connectwireless.us
Revised 8 September,  2006