BREAK THE CHAINS OF OPPRESION AND THE YOKE OF ...

EXPLoita Tion
The starting points of the churches on the Czech and German sides are different.
In the German church and its diaconal organisations there is a highly developed
network of full-time and voluntary staff and the church itself has significant
moral authority, thanks to which it can call further political and social actors
on to the stage. By contrast the voice of the church in the Czech Republic
has little political and social resonance; the congregations in the German-Czech
border region are numerically very weak; professional diaconal work is limited to
a few centres. This different situation should not be allowed to discourage us. It
rather shows that effective church action requires cooperation between the
Czech and German sides. Common calls will have a significant weight; together
we can work effectively on all the fronts of the problem; together we can obtain
more means to finance professional help.
What is to be done in view of the predominance of organised criminality and the
great number of women who pay so dearly for their attempt to free themselves
from poverty and lack of perspectives? How can the irresponsibility of their
clients and the indifference of large parts of society in both countries be countered?
How should one deal with such a complex problem? Where should one begin?
The churches would overreach themselves if they tried to combat organised
crime. It would be equally superfluous to strain themselves to replace already existing
forms of social assistance 10 . One must distinguish where the church can
use its specific potential, where at the moment the work of Christians is really
necessary and where instead it is enough to support those who are already helping.
What is the task?
Lifting Taboos �through � the � Churches�
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The first and most important step is that the churches and their organisations
should open themselves for this frequently taboo subject and apply themselves to
it. Ultimately human traffic always has to do with questions connected to sexuality,
morals, partnership relations and gender topics. In the churches, however,
these themes are seldom discussed openly. But there is no alternative to facing
10 Projects of the church and diaconal advisory centre “Jadwiga” in Hof; the advisory
agency “Fluchtpunkt“ for children and young people in Cheb/Eger, run since 2006 by
the Evangelisches Jugendfürsorgewerk (EJF-Lazarus) and the Jana Project in Domažlice.
Extensive help throughout the entire territory of the Czech Republic is offered
by the Caritas project “Magdala“ in the Archdiocese of Prague. Additionally the
secular organizations Rozkoš and Rizika, La Strada – those returning voluntarily to
their homelands, IOM ČR, ˇSance – work with boys in prostitution. Further the crossborder
social work of KARO e.V. (Plauen) and the professional advisory agency for
victims of human trafficking, KOBRAnet (Zittau and Leipzig).
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– IN THE MIDDLE OF EUROPE – 139