Combating Human Trafficking

Vatican and Law Enforcement in Partnership

The second international conference on human trafficking will take place on 9 and 10 April in the Academy of Sciences in the Vatican.  The theme of this conference will be “Combating Human Trafficking: Church and law enforcement in partnership.” T he Conference aims to bring police chiefs together so they can build an effective network to combat trafficking and work collaboratively with the Church. Closer collaboration will also enable joint investigations between law enforcement agencies, enabling a more co-ordinated international approach to rid the world of the scourge of its second most profitable crime.  Some 20 chiefs from police forces around the world are expected to attend, including the chiefs of Interpol, as well as those from Brazil, Australia and India, among others.  The workshop will also look at other areas where the Church can improve, particularly with raising awareness and the reintegration of human trafficking victims into society.

Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminister (UK) who will host the event said, “It is about practical collaboration between the Church on the ground and the law enforcement agencies in the fight against human trafficking. …there are very helpless victims, and by attending to them and their needs, we can actually make a huge contribution, with the police, to the tackling of this problem.”