One of the dangers of International “Days” is that they can generate a great deal of well-meaning talk, but little action. Sometimes they serve to raise public consciousness about an undeservedly forgotten issue or a neglected cause. But too often they come round on the annual calendar, and nothing much seems to change.
International Women’s Day is too important for that to happen. This Embassy’s contribution to the many concrete initiatives planned is to focus on a global problem that disproportionately impacts upon women: human trafficking, often called “modern day slavery”. The International Labour Organisation estimates that 2.4 million people are trafficked globally. According to the UN, 79% of trafficking is for sexual exploitation and 18% for forced labour. Overwhelmingly, women and girls are the victims, men the exploiters.
Human trafficking is a priority for the British government and the Holy See. I wrote last year about work being undertaken by the Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales (CBCEW). They will be holding a seminar in Rome in May, working with the Holy See, the Metropolitan Police, and other organisations, following a successful event in London on 1 December 2011. Sister Eugenia Bonetti runs the Counter-Trafficking Office in Rome, and is working to develop an extraordinary network of professionals, volunteers and religious sisters around the world to tackle the traffickers and protect the victims.
This 8 March, International Women’s Day, I shall be bringing Sister Eugenia together with Ambassadors of key countries (both sources of supply and of demand) and Holy See officials to prepare for the May CBCEW conference, and explore ways in which our different authorities and networks can co-operate more practically and more efficiently to stop this trade in human lives in its tracks. There are no short cuts. But we hope to begin to make a real difference.