Ioana Bauer is the president of eLiberare, an NGO working on preventing and combatting human trafficking and sexual exploitation. She has been active in the area of protecting human rights and dignity since 2005, and, besides leading and shaping prevention activities, developing materials on the issue, and conducting capacity building activities, Ioana has worked directly with survivors of human trafficking. Ioana is passionate about fighting injustice and is a firm believer in the power of community and collective action. Ioana is an Ashoka Fellow, a Resilience Fellow, and is recognized as one of the women leaders advancing the UN SDGs globally.

Human trafficking is modern day slavery and it can be found in every country, rich or poor. An estimated 35 million people are enslaved in the world today, and traffickers are making over $150 billion each year. It is the second largest illegal industry after drugs, but in this case we are talking about selling and buying people. Most often, these victims are what Jesus calls ‘the least of these’, the modern day orphan, widow, or foreigner. The major forms of exploitation are forced labour and sexual exploitation.

During this workshop, we will be discussing the particularities of human trafficking in Europe, along with some of its root causes. We will look at God’s heart for the people enslaved by this type of organised crime and how we, as people who have once been enslaved by sin, can be part of the solution in a way that is respectful of the human dignity of the ones we want to help. We are called to be messengers of the God who rescues. We will then explore examples of involvement in the areas of awareness, prevention, aftercare, and advocacy.

For more, go to www.FOCLonline.org