Amistad

Human Trafficking and Vulnerable Communities

The International Labor Organization estimates that there are nearly 25 million men, women, and children subjected to labor or sex trafficking worldwide. Though human trafficking is a global issue, its effects are much closer to home than you may think. People are trafficked everyday in almost any industry and city.

New immigrant communities are particularly vulnerable to human trafficking due to their unfamiliarity with the justice system and laws, language barriers, and lack of knowledge of available resources. For this reason, it is important to understand how to recognize and prevent local incidents of human trafficking, particularly within the labor industry. Thus, the Amistad Movement strives to educate immigrant communities on how to work together to prevent human trafficking on a local level.

What is Amistad?

Like the captives aboard the Amistad slave ship who revolted and won their freedom, the Amistad Movement seeks to empower immigrants in at-risk communities with the educational tools to protect their own community members from falling victim to human trafficking.

The Amistad Movement seeks to:

  • Form Amistad educators from within the immigrant community to raise awareness about and build protective factors against human trafficking.
  • Build trust between immigrant communities and law enforcement to increase identification and reporting of human trafficking cases.
  • Strengthen coalition-building that enables immigrants to benefit from local NGOs and government programs working against trafficking and providing trauma-informed and survivor- centered care.

The Amistad Movement is inspired by the Catholic social principle of subsidiarity, which teaches that the best solutions to local problems arise from, and are led by, the members of affected communities. The Movement leverages the talents and gifts of immigrants themselves to effect lasting change in their communities, recognizing that their initiative arises from intimate knowledge of factors that make their communities vulnerable to human trafficking.

AMISTAD ACTIVITIES & RESOURCES

Welcome! The guides, presentations, and other materials below seek to educate IMMIGRANT communities about human trafficking, and how to respond to what Pope Francis describes as a “wound against contemporary society”. The resources are to help you with awareness raising and community engagement. While the program is designed for an immigrant community, and “Amistad Educators”, you do not have to fit this description in order to access and benefit from the materials.

¡Bienvenidos! Las siguientes guías, presentaciones y otros materiales buscan educar a las comunidades de INMIGRANTES sobre la trata de personas y como responder a lo que el Papa Francisco describe como una “herida contra la sociedad contemporánea”. Los recursos son para ayudarlo con la sensibilización y la participación de la comunidad. Si bien el programa está diseñado para una comunidad de inmigrantes y “Educadores de Amistad”, todos quienes se interesan por el tema pueden acceder y beneficiarse de los materiales.

 

The Amistad Program is supported by the Anti-Trafficking Program of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

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