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Voices of Faith The Lord hears the cry of the poor, blessed be the Lord. A few dozen religious women sang this refrain over and over again at a gathering last fall called to address human trafficking in New York state. We sang it in response to the story of a 14-year-old Mexican girl who was forced into prostitution after being lured to the United States with promises of a good-paying job cleaning hotel rooms. We sang it in response to the comments of a slave working on a cocoa farm in West Africa. And we sang it in response to quotes from advocates and church bodies speaking out against all forms of human trafficking and enslavement. We'll be singing the refrain again, if only in our minds and hearts, as we join the Labor-Religion Coalition of New York State's 40-Hour Fast this week. During the fast, which begins at 8 p.m. Monday and runs through noon Wednesday, we will be abstaining from food in whatever way we are physically able in order to call attention to those who are hungering for justice. The victims of human trafficking will be foremost on the minds of members of the New York Coalition of Religious Congregations/Stop Trafficking of Persons, which comprises 30 religious orders that total more than 7,000 nuns, priests and religious brothers. As we fast, we will be praying and calling on our state lawmakers to finish the task they started but failed to complete over the past two years: Pass anti-human trafficking legislation that includes strengthening of penalties for perpetrators and providing services for victims. It is estimated that up to 50,000 women and children are brought into this country each year through the use of physical force, intimidation or deception in order to work in what have been described as modern-day slave conditions. Most perform essentially unpaid labor or are forced into prostitution. About one-third of victims are believed to be children. At the coalition's fall meeting in New Rochelle, we had talked about how this issue touches so much of who we are as women religious. The particular spirit with which each of our congregations was founded calls us to be of service to and in solidarity with the poor, to counter violence with peace and reconciliation, and to speak out against social injustices. Our histories are filled with women who worked tirelessly to empower women, children and all those who are left at the margins of society. As a Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet, I recalled how our congregation was founded in 17th-century France by a group of women committed to meeting the needs of widows, orphans and others left destitute in that war-torn society. That same spirit is alive now in Los Angeles, where one of our sisters is providing services to victims of human trafficking who have passed through her program for homeless women and children. While visiting 1 years ago, I was horrified as I listened to some of these women tell their stories. One was locked up in a sweatshop for 24 hours a day after being lured to the United States with promises of a good seamstress job. Two others were virtually imprisoned as round-the-clock maids. A few years ago, the newspapers were full of the story of Mexican farm laborers who were being housed in appalling conditions and forced to work for very little or no pay in agricultural fields near Rochester. Workers from Peru, placed in fast-food restaurants and other mainstream businesses on Long Island, were having their wages taken by those who had brought them into the country. The Labor-Religion Coalition is giving New Yorkers an opportunity to share our concern for these and other, hidden victims of human trafficking through the time-honored religious practice of fasting. As we fast, we will be praying that lawmakers open their hearts to the gut-wrenching stories that we have heard and respond by passing comprehensive, effective legislation that includes felony-level penalties for perpetrators and immigration and social services for victims. True justice demands nothing less. Marianne Comfort lives in Schenectady and is public relations director for the Religious Formation Conference, a national organization based in Silver Spring, Md., that provides programs and services for women and men religious. All Times Union materials copyright 1996-2007, Capital Newspapers Division of The Hearst Corporation, Albany, N.Y. Last Updated:03/03/2007 |