Enslaved by Voodoo, in Europe

Human trafficking is usually regarded as something that happens in Asia or in the dark corners of unreformed Eastern Europe, but it truly is an international problem happening in surprising places and in surprising ways. In southern Italy, west African women who have come to Europe in search of a better life are routinely enslaved and bound--with voodoo.

LOS ANGELES (Catholic Online) - The women leave countries like Ghana and Nigeria in West Africa and settle in the African ghettoes of Europe. Desperate for work and usually with debt to pay for their journey, they are quickly scooped up by local mafia organizations and employed as prostitutes. The organizations aren't classical Italian mafias either. They can be Chinese, African, or even Colombian.

Compelled to repay their debts, often owed to a mafia, a voodoo rite, known as "the Juju" is used to freighted women into keeping their word. In Voodoo, the Juju rite is used to bring justice, but in this case, it is used as a threat. Women who might not repay their debts are made to fear death or insanity.

The women are handled by "Madams" who keep the women working and paying. The customers are often Italian men, who in many areas frequently use prostitutes. Augmenting the mafia's income and power are drug trafficking and religion.

Some women are rescued however. The Catholic church maintains several charities including many where women can come in off the streets and be housed for extended periods of time. During those periods, the women are given food, shelter, and safety, as well as peace of mind. Women are taught that they needn't fear the Juju, and that it is mere superstition. The women talk with the sisters and discuss how they came to be prostitutes and develop plans that will help prevent them from returning to such lives once they leave the protection of the convents.

The surprising prevalence of modern slavery and its many forms can be shocking to many. Worse still, is the reality that many people, especially women and children are not bound with chains, but rather with the corruption of false faith and threats of fictional curses.

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