the bakhita initiative

BAKHITAInitiative

The

I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me.

Matthew 25: 35

The Bakhita Initiative | I was a stranger and you welcomed me2

SAINT JOSEPHINE BAKHITAThis very special Initiative is named after Josephine Bakhita, whowas born in 1869 in Darfur, Sudan. When she was seven, she waskidnapped by Arab slave traders. She was so traumatised by thebrutality of her captors, she could not remember her own name- and was mockingly dubbed "bakita"- the fortunate one. At age13 her cruellest torture left her permanently scarred. Her finalowner brought her to Italy and when the family had to go awayon business, they left Bakhita and their child in the care of theCarossian Sisters in Venice. In 1890 she asked to be baptised andreceived the name Josephine. When the family returned toreclaim her, Josephine resisted the court upheld her freedom,since slavery was not recognised in Italian law. In 1896 she tookher vows as a Carossian Sister and for the next fifty years lived aquiet, prayerful life in one of their convents in northern Italy.Josephine Bakhita died in 1947 and was the first Sudanese to beproclaimed a saint in 2000.

I was a stranger and you welcomed me | The Bakhita Initiative 3

dedicated Catholics we should strive to play a leading role in the successful prevention of, andthe fight against all forms of trafficking occurring in the public or the private domain. But this

ambition will only happen on the scale necessary, through much closer working amongst all the agenciesinvolved in addressing the problem.

I would remind you that human trafficking is the slavery of our time. It is a gross violation and anunspeakable exercise of mental and physical control over a defenceless individual. People may be surprisedto learn that much of this exploitation happens closer to their home than they may realise.

Typically we know of many people who come to our shores hoping that it will bring a positive change in theirlife. After arriving at an unfamiliar town or city they are forced into exploitation. They do not have the meansto protect themselves or to escape, as they might have arrived illegally. They are now an object to be tradedand with no personal documents their identity and dignity have been stolen.

According to the United Nations, human trafficking is the second most lucrative criminal enterprise in theworld after arms dealing and drugs. This is partly due to weak enforcement of law and a fundamental lackof understanding of the problem.

This rising issue demands our serious attention. The horrors of being exploited, abused and dehumanisedcannot and will not be tolerated. Some victims have managed to escape and tell us their stories, so nowwe are building a picture of the problem which will help us to conquer it.

The Bakhita Initiative is the Churchs response to human trafficking. It will focus our efforts and act as acatalyst for a number of interventions. I therefore ask that you consider our project plans and give seriousconsideration to making a gift to this cause.

As

PERSONAL MESSAGE FROM CARDINAL VINCENT NICHOLS


HUMAN TRAFFICKING IS A HIGHLY LUCRATIVEACTIVITY WHERE CRIMINALS EXPLOIT PEOPLE ANDINFLICT MISERY. A response to human trafficking needsto be unequivocal, determined and collaborative. PopeFrancis and Cardinal Vincent Nichols are giving leadershipon a global and national level to a collaboration whichworks to;

meet the complex needs of those who have beentrafficked,

raise the profile of the problem, confront the issues of prevention and education; and maximise the opportunity for detection and

detention of traffickers.

It is now accepted that migration has a global charactersimultaneously touching all regions and crossing allboundaries. We also recognise that the motivations formigration run along a continuum spanning political andeconomic factors. The spectrum runs from immediatethreats to life and safety due to war or persecution,through to situations where economic conditions orenvironmental degradation make the prospect for life,even mere survival, marginal or non-existent. Witheconomic and environmental conditions worsening in

many countries, the likelihood will be even moremigration, as people naturally and legitimately seek toimprove their lives, when they cannot do so in theirhomeland - in the process many may seek the help ofsmugglers or fall victim to traffickers.

Trafficking is a modern-day slavery. Traffickers useviolence, coercion and deception to take people awayfrom their homes and families and force them to workagainst their will. Many of the victims are women andchildren. According to the UN enforced prostitution isone of the fastest growing, most lucrative and thoroughlyreprehensible of crimes. Alternatively, a smuggler willfacilitate illegal entry into a country for a fee, but onarrival at the destination, the smuggled person is free andusually does not see the smuggler again.

Traffickers face few risks and can earn enormous profitsby taking advantage of large numbers of poor andvulnerable people. People are trafficked both betweencountries and within countries. Those trafficked may beforced to work as domestics, in prostitution, as farm andfactory workers etc. Trafficked persons are almost alwaysexploited, they are victims of crime and their treatmentis a violation of their human dignity.

INTRODUCTION


HUMAN TRAFFICKING NOW RANKS AS THE SECONDMOST PROFITABLE WORLDWIDE CRIMINAL ENTERPRISEAFTER THE ILLEGAL ARMS TRADE. The InternationalLabour Organisation estimates that 2.4 million people aretrafficked globally and that annual profits from traffickingin human beings are as high as $32 billion.

The most recent report from the United Nation Office ofDrugs and Crime has revealed that millions of people aretrafficked for sexual exploitation and forced labour. Thereport claims that victims originate from at least 136different nationalities, have been detected in 118countries, and the majority are women, though thepercentage of children is increasing. Those exploited canbe found in the world's restaurants, fisheries, brothels,farms and homes, among other places.

Trafficking for sexual exploitation accounts for well overhalf of all trafficking cases detected globally. Other illegalpurposes detected in 2010 include begging, forcedmarriage, black market adoption, participating in armedcombat and committing crimes. However, of all the 132countries covered in the report, 16 percent did not recorda single conviction for human trafficking between 2007and 2010. Bribery and corruption are the likely reasons.

The report It Happens Here published by the Centre forSocial Justice (CSJ) in March 2013 established that morethan 1,000 trafficking victims were found in the previousyear, including a significant number of British children.While these estimated figures appear shocking as theyare, they represent only a small proportion due to ashambolic identification system.

The CSJ investigation discovered a litany of cases whereadults and children are trafficked into and within the UKand subjected to forced labour, sexual exploitation(British girls trafficked for this made up nearly one half ofall UK slavery victims in 2011), domestic servitude andforced criminality (which includes benefit fraud, forcedbegging or pick-pocketing and drug cultivation).

"Numerous victims of modern slavery, the report states,are prosecuted for offences they have committed as aresult of being trafficked. This may include immigrationoffences or, in cases where Vietnamese people, oftenminors, are trafficked into the UK to work in one of thethousands of cannabis farms, drugs offences."

Despite these abuse levels widespread ignorance existsamong police, social workers and immigration officers

about the scale and nature of human trafficking. The CSJcalls for far more rigorous training of professionals.

According to the most recent Strategic Assessment ofthe Nature and Scale of Human Trafficking published in2014 by the National Crime Agency found:

that 2,744, people (including 602 children) werepotential victims of trafficking for exploitation in 2013- an increase of 22 per cent on 2012;

that Romania was the most common country oforigin for victims and Poland was the most likelynation for labour trafficking; and

that increasingly online dating, social media sites andadvertising of jobs on the internet were used torecruit victims.

With all-party support, the Modern Slavery Bill is one of thefirst of its kind in the world. It will give extra powers topolice and other agencies to prevent and detect suspectedtrafficking and appoint a new Anti-Slavery Commissioner toco-ordinate cross departmental Government working sothey can focus their response and facilitate mandatoryreporting of trafficking cases to a central point.

It will also give extra protection to alleged victims and make itfar easier for them to give evidence. Convicted perpetratorsof slavery offences will be subject to stiffer penalties,including life sentences and the confiscation of assets fromwhich they can be made to give reparation to victims.

One of the Bills most important measures will end theterrible dilemma faced by many victims of modern slavery of being obliged to convict them-selves in order toincriminate their slave-masters by granting them immunity.

CURRENT SITUATION

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labour Exploitation

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Criminal Exploitation

IT WILL FOCUS ON PRACTICAL INTERNATIONALNETWORKING between the Church and police/lawenforcement agencies. While it has a number of strands,the focus will be on prevention, through the delivery ofan awareness raising campaign and a customised trainingprogramme. These will be rolled out at parish andcommunity levels for those at the forefront ofcombating this trade. A train-the-trainers element willalso be included so that a greater sensitivity to the needsof this marginalised group is spread in a sustainable andcost-effective way.

Training will also be provided to frontline staff andindividuals, who may come into contact with potentialvictims of trafficking and/or exploited and vulnerableindividuals and communities, especially from EasternEurope and West Africa.

Awareness-raising will take place in target countries, giventhe reality of migration to Europe. As a significant amountof trafficking is conducted through deception, e.g. the

promise of a well-paid job in an international hotel chainor a major construction site in London, there is con-siderable scope for well-planned prevention campaigns.

In summary the project will include:

co-ordinating the voluntary safe return of those whohave been trafficked;

sharing information about patterns of trafficking;

provision of materials for education, prevention andawareness raising including advertising;

promotion of the feast of St Josephine Bakhita;

media work;

training programmes conducted in the UK andinternationally; and

sharing of best practice for supporting those whohave experienced human trafficking particularly asdeveloped through Caritas Bakhita House (see opposite).


THE BAKHITA INITIATIVE EMBODIES THE UNION of theCatholic Church in its local, national and universaldimensions in communion with Pope Francis andexpresses the Churchs commitment to support thosewho have experienced human trafficking.

In the UK there are strengthening partnerships betweenlaw enforcement agencies and those involved in working

with those who have been trafficked. In particular, theMetropolitan Police is working with the Catholic BishopsConference of England and Wales, Congregations ofReligious, and other support agencies. This uniquecollaboration aspires to become the most innovative andinfluential international anti-trafficking hub.

There are four main elements to the Bakhita Initiative:

THE BAKHITA INITIATIVE WILL BE OVERSEEN BY theBakhita Foundation, which will co-ordinate all the workof the Initiative. By virtue of their offices the Presidentof the CBCEW is the President of the Bakhita Foundationand the Bishop heading the CBCEW Office of Migrationis its Chair. The key stakeholders of the BakhitaFoundation are the CBCEW, Caritas Westminster, and theMetropolitan Police. The partners of the BakhitaFoundation are the Congregation of Adorers - Handmaidsof the Blessed Sacrament and of Charity (theAdoratrices), St. Marys University and a London parish..

The function of the Bakhita Foundation will be to:

agree and develop policy and practice;

regularly monitor its timely, successful and efficientimplementation;

support and coordinate fundraising for theFoundations activities;

publicise and promote the different strands of theFoundation;

agree shared roles and responsibilities with partnerorganisations.

PROJECT DESCRIPTIONS

BAKHITA FOUNDATION

BAKHITA INSTITUTE FOR RESEARCH INTO HUMAN SLAVERY


OWNED BY THE ARCHDIOCESE OF WESTMINSTERAND MANAGED BY CARITAS WESTMINSTER it willbecome an essential part of the Bakhita Initiative. Thelocal Catholic Parish is already committed to supportingits work. This facility will provide assistance to the mostvulnerable and traumatised individuals who haveexperienced human trafficking, particularly those whofall outside the existing structures of support. It will be atriage centre for the emergency placement of womenescaping human trafficking and its function will be tosupport the beginnings of the restorative process. It willhave a pan-London role and will also be a nationalresource, since it will take victim referrals from anywherein the UK on the basis of need.

CARITAS BAKHITA HOUSE

St Josephine Bakhitas suffering is a reminder ofthe enduring tragedy of human slavery: hercourage and sanctity a reminder of theenduring power of the human spirit and indeedof Gods grace.

Bishop Patrick Lynch SS.CC, Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales

Media LaptopTypewritten TextOffices for the Hub will initially be located in Caritas Bakhita House and will be run by the International AffairsDepartment within the Secretariat of CBCEW. Over themedium term, approximately three years, the Hub will bean institute based at St Mary's University.

Media LaptopTypewritten Text

Caritas Bakhita House will provide accommodation for upto fourteen women guests over the age of seventeen. Itwill provide care and rehabilitation for guests and forothers who have been trafficked but are not resident atBakhita House through:

emergency support;

psychosexual therapy;

legal and financial assistance;

mentoring and help with accessing accommodation;

Education and employment will increasingly be providedby St Marys University through foundation/degreecourses and employment within the university.

Caritas Bakhita House will have the following values andprinciples of action:

Love - Expressed in compassionate support and longterm commitment

Respect - for the gift and dignity of each individual

Community - a welcome which creates friendship andbelonging

Spirituality - nurtured by that Joy in creative activitywhich lifts the spirit

Subject to a staffing needs assessment, it is anticipatedthat Caritas Bakhita House will have the following staff:

a Services Manager will have responsibility for thequality of services provided and for the safety ofguests, staff and volunteers working there. S/he willreport to the Director of Caritas Westminster.

a House Manager;

three Support Workers to include a ResettlementWorker;


pastoral worker(s) including the Adoratrice Sisters, asthe specific charism of their Congregation showsdedication to nurturing, supporting and restoring thehuman spirit and material lives of those who haveexperienced human trafficking.

There will be a strong team approach to the developmentand management of the services provided at CaritasBakhita House. Working with the Services Manager as an integral part of the team, the role of the AdoratriceSisters will primarily be to provide pastoral support to guests.

Caritas Bakhita House staff will aim to:

Establish a strong ethos of restoration and care

Establish initial trust and rapport with guests

Accompany guests to interviews and meetings asrequired

Provide mentoring and support to volunteers

Facilitate health, legal and social support for guestsand other clients

Work closely with other team members, sharingknowledge and expertise

Work closely with the resettlement support workerto support guests and other clients through theirrestorative journey

Assist with life planning for guests and clients

The establishment and future development of servicesprovided by the House Team will emerge as the projecttakes shape over the coming 12 months.

Caritas Bakhita House shall follow all the Safeguardingguidelines and policies of the Archdiocese ofWestminster.


THIS IS AN ALLIANCE OF INTERNATIONAL POLICECHIEFS AND BISHOPS from around the world workingtogether with civil society in a process endorsed by PopeFrancis who called it an open wound on the body ofcontemporary society, to eradicate human trafficking andmodern day slavery.

The Group is led by Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe,Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police and HisEminence Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop ofWestminster. It was named after the Papal residencewhere the participants from the Vatican Conferencestayed in April 2014 and resulted in a signed Declaration ofCommitment by all the Chiefs of Police present to worktogether on the international stage to develop strategiesin prevention, pastoral care and the re-integration.

The objective of the Group is to combine the resources ofthe Church with those of Law Enforcement Agencies toprevent trafficking and modern day slavery, providepastoral care to victims and assist them with re-integrationin the hoste community for safe return.

In April 2014 at the Vatican conferencewe brought together twenty-four headsof national and international police andlaw enforcement agencies including UKNational Crime Agency, Interpol,Europol, US Homeland Security, theArgentine Federal Police, Ghanaian,Indian, Thai, Australian, Irish and many European PoliceForces to look at how they and the Church could worktogether to help victims at a conference entitledCombating Human Trafficking: Church and LawEnforcement in Partnership.

THE SANTA MARTA GROUP

The key issue for me is how we convinceall victims that we are here to help, andthat we can make a difference to theirlives, no matter how desperate theirsituation may seem. When you are living inthe grip of fear, how do you know whoyou can trust?

Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-HoweLondon Metropolitan Police


THIS LOCAL AND GLOBAL INITIATIVE has a number ofdefining features, which make it stand out from otherresponses to this phenomenon. For example:

it sees the synthesis of policy and practice;

It promotes a very special partnership between HMGovernment, the Bishops Conferences, theMetropolitan Police, NGOs, volunteers and womenreligious communities;

It presents new opportunities to Catholics to engageand act positively on this matter, especially throughparish training and volunteering;

It establishes a model of intervention which createshigh levels of synergy and that could be replicatedelsewhere in the world;

It complements the work of other Catholic charitiesin London, such as the Passage, the Cardinal HumeCentre and Anchor House.

WHY IS THE BAKHITA INITIATIVE DIFFERENT?

THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, through the witness of manyorganisations and individuals, especially women religious,plays a significant role in helping those afflicted by thisinvisible and iniquitous trade. There is now a clear needfor resources to sustain a coordinated response basedaround the following objectives:

to offer direct assistance and protection to victims viathe pastoral care available through the parish network;

to seek rigorous enforcement by the criminal justicesystem for those who are the main perpetrators ofthis illegal trade;

to encourage greater international solidarity and

closer working practices eg agree signposting andvictim referral protocols;

to work towards prevention via a sound andsympathetic migration policy;

to provide specialist training and make awareness-raising available to law enforcement agencies, localauthority professionals, frontline volunteers in theparishes, teachers and schoolchildren; and

To maintain a venue serving England and Wales andwith services accessible to all police forces and lawenforcement agencies.

OUR OVERALL AIMS

THERE IS A COMPELLING AND BASIC HUMAN NEEDTHAT MUST BE ADDRESSED AND THE CATHOLICCHURCH IS WELL PLACED TO HELP, as it can often work effectively on many levels. Indeed, theMetropolitan Police have credited the Church for itsawareness raising activities both here and across the restof Europe. The Church now aims to play a leading role inthe prevention of, and the fight against all forms oftrafficking occurring in the public or the private domain,but this will only happen through closer working amongstall the agencies involved.

To successfully fight trafficking there must be both anational and international response with localinterventions in the countries of source, transit anddemand. There are several Catholic religious and their

Orders, immigrant chaplaincies and committedindividuals involved with trafficked persons. However thisvaluable work remains somewhat fragmented andisolated. The Bakhita Initiative will tackle thisshortcoming.

As Catholics we care for all who are compelled by severepolitical, economic and social conditions to leave theirhomes and their cultures regardless of the labels theyare given. This way we can help our parishes to rediscovertheir identity, their integrity and their vocation as theChurch of the Stranger.

OUR CALL TO ACTION

the bakhita initiative

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