Stopping the trafficking

Rosie Hoban

Mary Euphrasia Pelletier and Dr Daniel Delaney, founders of the Good Shepherd and Brigidine congregations respectively, may not have envisaged the most recent campaigns their congregations would end up pursuing, but there's little doubt they would approve wholeheartedly.

For almost 200 years women from both the Good Shepherd and Brigidine congregations have cared for the marginalised, particularly women and children at risk. Today, they are focusing on one of Australia's most disturbing social issues—the trafficking of women into Australia. Many of these women end up working in the sex industry.

While the trafficking of women into Australia for sex work and other forms of exploited labour is rarely discussed in the wider community, it is an emerging issue that many religious congregations in Australia are now tackling, through advocacy, research and social initiatives.

One important step in their campaign was the presentation of a Shadow Report to the United Nations in January 2006 on the trafficking of women into Australia, auspiced by the religious congregations' Anti-Trafficking Working Group. This group represents nine congregations of religious women across Australia—Sisters of the Good Shepherd Australia, Brigidine Sisters Australia, Sisters of St Joseph Lochinvar, Sisters of Mercy Melbourne Congregation, Marist Sisters Australia, Sisters of Charity Australia, Sisters of St Joseph, Presentation Sisters Victoria and Sisters of the Good Samaritan.

Congregational leader of the Brigidine Sisters, Louise Cleary, says the shadow report to the United Nations in New York examined the Australian government's response to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). Melbourne barrister Georgina Costello and Sydney lawyer Jennifer Burn delivered the report in New York on behalf of the Anti-Trafficking Working Group.

The development of this shadow report arose from a growing awareness by many religious congregations of the plight of trafficked women and children as an emerging social need in our country. Sr Louise believes greater community awareness of the trafficking of women and children for sex work and of their treatment in Australia will ultimately benefit the women who are the victims of crime syndicates.

Many Australians, she says, are reluctant to believe that women are trafficked into Australia to work in the sex industry, assuming such a problem only exists in Asia. But many women accept work or are deceived about the nature of the work in Australia because of their poverty. They do not realise how difficult it will be to be released from contracts and debt bondage and many find themselves working in brothels for a long time with no hope of returning to their home country.

'Within the Catholic community there is a reluctance to talk about the sex industry because it is a bit of a taboo subject. But trafficking women and children into this country to work in the sex industry is a human rights issue and we must stand with these people', Sr Louise says.

Sr Tania de Jong, a Good Shepherd Sister, is one of the Good Shepherd network working against trafficking. She said research and recent court cases in Australia have revealed that many women are recruited from Asia to work in the sex industry, but once they arrive their passports are confiscated and the people who helped them gain entry into the country become their captors.

'A debt bondage is incurred so that women have little choice but to work long hours, often with no or limited pay until the debt is paid off. It is quite common for women to be forced to repay debts of up to $40,000. Brothel operators and managers deliberately exploit the bureaucratic visa application process, which effectively buys more time for the women to finish off their contract and be further exploited,' Sr Tania explains.

It is intended that a more concerted community education program in Australia will follow the shadow report to CEDAW. Such forums will give the wider community and relevant institutions the opportunity to understand Article 6 of the Convention and how it is implemented or breached in Australia and to plan some strategies to address the issue of trafficking.

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, which was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1979, defines what constitutes discrimination against women and sets up an agenda for national action to end such discrimination.

The Convention defines discrimination against women as ' ...any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective of their marital status, on a basis of equality of men and women, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field'.

The Australian government committed to a Community Awareness Program in 2004, but this has yet to be put in place. Community education and advocacy are vital if Australia is to tackle trafficking. Sr Louise believes schools and Catholic parishes are well placed to influence the change.

'Awareness of the issue of all people in the community is essential', she says. 'We need to be working with young men and women in our schools and within the community to help them develop an understanding of what can be going on in the sex industry. There is not the realisation that in some cases the women working in Australian brothels are trafficked women.'

Sr Tania agrees that the demand for community education is enormous. She would also like to see education programs run in schools, with the Catholic education system taking a lead role. On a positive note she believes that many Australians are becoming more committed to supporting income-generating schemes in developing countries. And these are the schemes that can provide positive healthier choices for young women who need to support families.

The Good Shepherd's Trading Circle, which operates in several capital cities in Australia, sells products made by women in communities in developing countries. The women are taught skills and paid a fair price for their goods, which are produced in a workplace with just work conditions.

Tania and Louise are fervent in their belief that the eradication of poverty would play a major role in eradicating the trafficking of women for sex work and other forms of exploited labour. Human trafficking is as big an industry as heroin trafficking in some countries.

Sr Tania is hopeful: 'Together, with spirit, passion and solidarity we can eradicate trafficking by making poverty history and restoring human dignity, respect and empowerment to women who have been trafficked. To do this our government must treat the women, not as illegal immigrants, or even as potential witnesses of a crime, but as survivors of injustice and unfair trade'.

The voices of Dr Daniel and Mary Euphrasia Pelletier can be heard echoing in the distance.