Catholic Nuns Doing ‘Very Hidden Work’ Are Stopping Pimps And Saving Children

GUWAHATI, India — Sister Rose Paite stepped inside this sprawling city’s main train station and scanned the crowd. She often visits public gathering places like this as part of her life’s mission: to save children from being trafficked.

In seconds, Paite was off. She had spotted a situation that alarmed her — a young girl, maybe 15 years old, sitting beside a much older man in a crisp button-down shirt. Paite walked up to them and began asking questions.

Where are you going? How did you meet this man?

The answers confirmed Paite’s suspicion.

The girl said she had just met the man on the train. It wasn’t clear where she was headed next.

Paite, who was wearing a black tunic and white veil, talked to her for nearly four minutes and handed over her card. She wanted to be able to check in on the girl, but the girl refused to give Paite her phone number.

Before walking away, the diminutive Roman Catholic nun warned the man, but she said he was dismissive.

“That girl, truly, will get into trouble,” Paite said. “She is so vulnerable.”

Then Paite skittered off again. The Guwahati train station was busy. There were more children likely to be in danger.

Human trafficking is everywhere

Paite is not a lone crusader. She’s part of a vast but little-known network of Catholic nuns dedicated to fighting human trafficking across the globe. The organization, Talitha Kum, was formed in Rome in 2009 and now operates quietly in 92 countries.

The group is made up of roughly 60,000 religious sisters. The work they do is often dangerous and daring — confronting pimps on darkened streets, patrolling dusty alleys that host brothels. The sisters also operate safe houses in several countries, providing refuge for women and girls fleeing their captors.

Their work doesn’t only take place in the streets. The organization pushes for systemic change, lobbying for stronger laws to combat human trafficking.

“If you want people to understand the urgency of the problem, you can’t be tiptoeing around it,” said Sister Jeanne Christensen, a member of the board of directors of the U.S. Catholic Sisters against Human Trafficking, which works with Talitha Kum.

Read the full story by Jake Whitman, Cynthia McFadden, and Rich Schapiro on Yahoo! News.

Category: Catholic Church, Good News!, The Alliance to End Human Trafficking