Spanish nuns are working with police in London to rescue women trafficked into prostitution.
The new approach was adopted by police after they realised that nuns can win the confidence of the frightened women and can also help persuade them to bring charges against the gangs which smuggled them into the UK.
“Women from religious orders are in our cars on operations, at the coal face, on the front line,” Detective Inspector Kevin Hyland told an international conference at the Vatican, with Pope Francis in attendance.
The partnership began last year and operates in the boroughs of Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea.
So far some 250 prostitutes have been found, of whom 40 had been trafficked.
The nuns, resident in London, are from a Spanish order. Many of them came originally from South America, India and Spain. They are able to give accommodation to the women who benefit from the peace of their convent while they testify in court.
The project is expected to be rolled out across the capital and could form a template for similar schemes internationally, the conference heard.
Nearly 30 million people in the world are reported to be slaves, working as prostitutes or workers.
Pope Francis told the conference: "Human trafficking is an open wound on the body of contemporary society, a scourge upon the body of Christ. It is a crime against humanity.”
