Ottawa, January 13 2009 - With the approaching Vancouver Winter Olympics in 2010, the Canadian Religious Conference (CRC) is launching an educational kit entitled: “We are a Global Village – Human Trafficking and the 2010 Olympics”. Designed for high school students, this kit aims to educate young people about the reality of human trafficking in all its forms and its many causes.
Statistics indicate that between 700, 000 to 4 million women and children are victims of human trafficking every year around the world making it a global issue. As highly profitable businesses, the Olympics and all major sporting events, provide a good opportunity to smuggle persons in a country illegally for purposes of prostitution. Canada is not immune to human trafficking.
The “We are a Global Village” kit includes a DVD, a user guide and teacher notes. The provided material will allow for a minimum of two class periods. The kit can also be easily adapted to other groups of people willing to become informed and involved in combating the trafficking in women and children.
The Canadian Religious Conference, active in this fight since 2004 following an appeal from the International Union of Superiors General (UISG), hopes this educational and awareness-raising kit will motivate young people and their teachers to take on the fight against this global scourge. The more the public is made aware, the more it will be possible to counter human trafficking and those who seek it. This will also result in more pressure being placed on governments to introduce measures to protect the victims of trafficking.
Statistics indicate that the average entry age for women into the murky world of prostitution is between 14 and 16 years of age and that Canada is no exception. By making young people aware of this and through understanding the root causes that create a climate for human trafficking, it is hoped that students will become actively committed to the battle against this modern day form of slavery that is the second largest form of organized crime in the world.
The Canadian Religious Conference is an association of 290 leaders of Catholic religious congregations in Canada that according to the latest CRC statistics are made up of 21,070 women and men religious.
[Source: Canadian Religious Conference]
