Scottish Catholic Observer

The campaign will aim to raise awareness and support children who are being trafficked for cheap labour, forced marriage, the sex trade and organ harvesting.

It comes after Pope Francis once again publicly condemned child trafficking earlier this year, labelling it an ‘atrocious scourge.’

The Holy Father has called trafficking a form of slavery, a crime against humanity, a grave violation of human rights and an ‘atrocious scourge,’ and said it is ‘all the more to be condemned when it takes place against children.’

According to European Parliament figures, more than 20 million people alive today have been victims of worldwide trafficking. It is one of the fastest growing illegal trades and makes an annual profit exceeding £1 billion. In India last year, 20,000 people were subject to human trafficking, with half of these being children.

SCIAF will work alongside Caritas India on their new project to help families living in underprivileged communities avoid becoming victims of trafficking.

The charities will give low income families help to earn a wage, making them less vulnerable, will aim to establish interception points on the Nepalese border, and work with police and others in order to rescue children.

Individuals and families can fall victim to human trafficking and modern day slavery as a result of poverty, lack of education and opportunities, war and political instability, while many in poorer communities are unaware that their loved ones have been sold, sometimes for a number of years.

Traffickers in India often prey on families that they know, and trick them into thinking that their children will be offered the chance of an education.

“Child trafficking is destroying lives,” Charlotte Hull, SCIAF’s head of communications, fundraising and education, who travelled to India to see the project, said. “Right now in India, thousands of children are being bought and sold every year—forced to work long hours in dangerous conditions with little or no pay, no rights, and often violently beaten and sexually abused.

“SCIAF is working with Caritas India to prevent trafficking and protect children “Every child has the right to love, safety, an education and a future of hope. We can all do something to help.”