Combating trafficking in human beings is of relevance to the principle of human dignity and to the promotion and defence of human rights. All these elements are at the very heart of the mission and work of COATNET partners.

COATNET Commitment on Combating Trafficking in human beings is inspired by Caritas Internationalis Commitment on Combating trafficking in human beings and based on the directions given by the Church, amongst others in the following texts:

• "The trade in human persons constitutes a shocking offence against human dignity and a grave violation of fundamental human rights. It is an affront to fundamental values that are shared by all cultures and peoples, values rooted in the very nature of the human person" (Pope John Paul II, Vatican City, 15 May 2002)
•  “In regard to children, great care should be taken not to place them in workshops and factories until their bodies and minds are sufficiently developed. For, just as very rough weather destroys the buds of spring, so does too early an experience of life’s hard toil blight the young promise of a child’s faculties, and render any true education impossible” (Leo XII, Encyclical Letter Rerum Novarum: Acta Leonis XIII, 11 (1892), 129.)
• “Trafficking in persons – in which men, women and children from all over the globe are transported to other countries for the purposes of forced prostitution or labour – inherently rejects the dignity of the human person and exploits conditions of global poverty” (“Strangers no longer: Together on the journey of hope” – A joint US/Mexico bishops pastoral letter, November 2002)

COATNET users strongly condemn trafficking in human beings as a criminal act, which violates basic human rights and the inviolable dignity and integrity of the human person. They acknowledge the need and commit themselves jointly to take decisive and effective actions:

• in raising public awareness and enabling people to take necessary actions with regard to trafficking in human beings, and thus preventing trafficking;
• in advocating for alternatives for vulnerable groups
• in assisting and protecting trafficked persons;
• in advocating for the rights and for the protection of trafficked persons, for effective anti-trafficking legislation and measures, for effective enforcement of such legislation and measures;
• in advocating for migration policies and economic policies that reduce vulnerability of people to trafficking
• and in networking with authorities and with Churches and relevant actors in international civil society to jointly elaborate effective partnerships to challenge the human trafficking phenomenon.

The full text of Caritas Internationalis Commitment on Trafficking can be downloaded here.