Every month 400 Bangladeshi women and minors are victims of trafficking every month. Some 40 million children are vulnerable in the country. Talitha Kum’s local branch held a webinar to take action, provide protection, and raise awareness.
Dhaka (AsiaNews) – Talitha Kum Bangladesh, the local branch of a global network of women religious against trafficking, held a webinar last Saturday to raise awareness among religious, youth and Church leaders in Bangladesh on the subject of child trafficking.
Members of the Talitha Kum network from the Vatican, Europe and other Asian countries took part in the event.
“Out of a population of 170 million in Bangladesh, more than 40 million of its 66 million children are vulnerable,” said Tony Michael Gomes, director of Communications, Advocacy and External Engagement for World Vision Bangladesh.
“UNICEF reports state that approximately 400 women and children in Bangladesh are victims of trafficking every month,” he explained. “Another study notes that some 300,000 Bangladeshi children and women aged 12 to 30 have been trafficked to India in the past decade alone.”
Early marriage has made the situation worse, especially because of the long lockdown. Unfortunately, this is a traditional cultural practice, and many “parents see marriage as a means of protecting their daughters from economic burden and sexual and physical violence.”
The actions that the Church can undertake to raise awareness, starting with parents, is of great importance. The work of Talitha Kum Bangladesh is part of this.
“The network of Catholic nuns is raising awareness in parishes, schools and dispensaries,” explained Father Liton H. Gomes, secretary of the Episcopal Commission for Justice and Peace in Bangladesh. For him, “Religious leaders in Bangladesh and India must adopt a concrete action plan to serve these victims” and prevent trafficking.
To this end, Talitha Kum is committed to the UN 2030 development agenda. Its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) include gender equality (goal number 5), especially the elimination of child and forced marriages.