Around the world, human trafficking is fueled by migration, informal economies and gender inequality, with women and girls disproportionately vulnerable to exploitation.
Faith leaders including Catholic sisters are often the first to respond to this crisis. Having built trusting relationships in many communities, they are able to care for survivors and disrupt trafficking through community-based action.
At the Women Deliver 2026 conference in Melbourne, Australia, faith leaders came together at a panel titled “Strengthening Collective Action: Faith, Justice and Working to End Human Trafficking in the Oceanic Pacific” to explore how to close the gap between faith-led initiatives and formal government systems.
Organized by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation’s Catholic Sisters initiative and moderated by Manira Alva of Vital Voices, the panel highlighted how Catholic sisters and other faith leaders are at the forefront of this response.
Speakers included:
Making an invisible crisis visible
In Australia, where the panelists gathered, human trafficking is often perceived as distant or rare. Sister Margaret Ng, founder of the Sisters of Saint Joseph’s Counter Trafficking Project, shared how even those living alongside this reality may not recognize it. She recalled telling her neighbor that she was working with survivors of trafficking, and his shock that it could take place in Australia.
Sr. Margaret said she meets survivors from many backgrounds in her work: “Human trafficking happens not only in sex work. I have met boxers, nurses, construction workers and cooks who were trafficked.”
Her experiences underscored why awareness, data and partnerships with local organizations are essential to addressing trafficking as a systemic issue, not an isolated crime.
The complexity of prevention
Sister Abby Avelino is the international coordinator of Talitha Kum, a global network of Catholic Sisters working against human trafficking. She pointed to one of the most challenging aspects of prevention: when exploitation happens within families and close relationships: “Women will say, ‘I didn’t know my aunt could do this to me. It’s a familiar story.”
Sr. Abby’s missionary work in Japan led to her involvement in anti-trafficking efforts, as she began to see how closely migration and trafficking are linked. Notably, uncertain migration status can make survivors reluctant to approach authorities. Faith leaders like Catholic sisters can serve as a critical link between survivors and formal systems. They help survivors navigate justice systems, immigration and social services in ways that take into account fear, stigma, and cultural contexts.
Asking about the future: skills, dignity and livelihoods
Sister Jane Wakahiu, who leads the Hilton Foundation’s Catholic Sisters initiative, lifted up the importance of skills training and economic opportunity in supporting survivors to find new paths forward.
She recalled a site visit she made to a group of Catholic Sisters working in India, and a memorable conversation between a woman who had left the local red-light district and the sisters who were helping her imagine a new life for herself and her young children.
“She wanted to be a beautician – to make other people feel beautiful. She was put in skills training; now, she has an apartment; her children have a house, and she is working,” she said. “When I met with her, I could see the change.”
The story illustrates why investing in the Catholic sisters is central to improving the human condition. Not only are sisters often the ones who know the communities well enough to locate the most vulnerable and to ask questions that open new possibilities; they also accompany survivors through training, accessing housing and other basic needs, and finding pathways to stable income.
Lemau Palaamo of Soul Talk Samoa and Congregational Christian Church Samoa shared how creating local networks of care can accompany survivors over time—including training parasocial workers who are embedded within communities.
The approach requires persistence and building relationships that last for years.
“We are constantly following up with those who have been in grief, traumatized – even 10 years ago,” she explained. “We still give them a call and say, ‘How are you?’ They’ve gone on their way, stepped out, been empowered, and some are actually businesswomen now.”
In most cases, this support includes skills training to ensure survivors can earn an independent income. The combination of emotional care, practical services, and economic opportunity helps survivors rebuild their lives and strengthen their resilience within their own communities.
The role of storytelling and working with the media
Erin Kenny of the Spotlight Initiative—the United Nations’ high-impact initiative to end violence against women and girls—shared how the initiative’s Safe and Fair program in Southeast Asia has engaged media as a partner in reaching migrant women workers.
“Survivors can be so isolated from any other human connection; they may not know that there’s a service for them or another opportunity for care,” she said. “As we were building this network of essential services for survivors, we brought the media in to help us promote the services and to destigmatize trafficking survivors.”
By working with journalists and media outlets, the Spotlight Initiative has helped women better understand their rights and learn about available services, while also challenging stigma around trafficking survivors. This approach complements the trusted, community-based work of Catholic sisters and faith actors, expanding the information ecosystem that survivors can access.
Sister Sarah Puls reflected on how her direct connection to people’s stories shapes the partnerships she helps build through ACRATH: “The connection that I have with the stories of people we support brings insight to partnerships that wouldn’t be there otherwise… Governments have the resources, but they don’t have the trust.”
“It’s so important to recognize that together we can achieve much more,” she continued. “Coalitions and partnerships between organizations mean that the real, lived experience on the ground can make it into the rooms where decisions are made.”
The panel itself offered a concrete example of these coalitions in action, bringing together Catholic sisters, faith-based and global organizations, and philanthropy. Through global networks such as Talitha Kum and other partnerships, they accompany migrant workers, operate safe houses, provide survivor care, and advocate for stronger protections. Their work demonstrates that trusted community presence and coordinated networks can create real disruption of trafficking systems, while also creating pathways to skills, livelihoods and long-term stability for survivors.