TO CARE is an important word for all women. In the traditional division of
work, social reproduction is the sphere assigned to women. However, this
destiny designed by patriarchal social norms has become for women a
source of inspiration, competence and ethical positioning.
In the context of trafficking in persons, when victims and people at risk
understand that someone is really caring for them, regardless of whether they
have been humiliated and violated, not for personal interest but exclusively
for the sake of the victim, suddenly everything changes. Care opens a
transformative path, for both the parties, the one giving and the one receiving
care. In this respect, the action of consecrated women can – and actually
does – make the difference, because of its authenticity and credibility.
TO HEAL is an important part of what we usually do in the context of family or
friend relationships, when the person we care for has been hit and wounded.
When we take care of a trafficked person, we know that healing is the first
action leading to recovery. To heal means in some cases helping the person
to forget, and then, later, to accept the truth, and to talk about their
experience.
TO EMPOWER VICTIMS BY AMPLIFYING THEIR VOICES. is a way to
make it possible that they are heard. This is not to taken for granted. To be
heard by authorities, for example, means to be listened to without any
misunderstanding. And we know that very often authorities just hear what
they want to hear, and when a person do not adhere to what they consider a
“worthy victim”, suddenly a victim’s voice is silenced. To make victims’ voices
be heard means to make visible the diversity of victims’ experiences, and to
enable people to understand that there are no worthy and unworthy victims,
but people whose rights, bodies, and souls have been violated, and thus
deserve restoration.
TO RESTORE HUMAN DIGNITY BY PROMOTING ACCESS TO JUSTICE
When someone is in a position to understand that he/she has rights, and that
such rights can be acknowledged and protected through a judicial procedure,
this means that the person concerned is not anymore a victim but a citizen.
This is thus an important step toward full social inclusion.
