The late Sister Janice McLaughlin was a genuine human rights activist until her death, aged 77. At the height of the liberation struggle, s...
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The late Sister Janice McLaughlin was a genuine human rights activist until her death, aged 77.
At the height of the liberation struggle, she was a victim of the colonial regime's brutality. Three months after her arrival in Zimbabwe, then Rhodesia, she was imprisoned for writing reports on the country’s liberation war.While in self-confinement, the colonial regime raided the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace, where she was the press secretary, for compiling and publishing war reports.
On the third week, she was deported to the United States. But the harsh treatment did deter her. In 1979, Sr. Janice became the project officer for the Zimbabwe Project, a consortium of Catholic donors to assist Rhodesian refugees.
At independence in 1980, she was invited to work in the office of the president of Zimbabwe as an education consultant. She initiated the building of nine schools for former refugees and war veterans to develop technical training.
After the displacement of people in Mozambique by the war, she was instrumental in assisting affected victims in 1985. Six years later, Sr. Janice returned to Maryknoll, New York, returning to Zimbabwe in 1997 as a training coordinator for Silveira House.
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| Sister Janice MacLaughlin (Pic by Global Sisters Report) |
Combating human trafficking was also part of her vast portfolio. “We are working with communities and that where we focus. We want to educate communities so that they are aware of the human trafficking risks that young people are at, especially given the economic difficulties in Zimbabwe,” she told the Global Sisters Report in 2019.
“Somebody comes along and takes a child and promises education and jobs in South Africa and the parents never get to hear from them.”
Cases of human trafficking in Zimbabwe have been escalating, and Sr. Janice was at the forefront. “In the past few years, some Zimbabwean women ended up in Kuwait and others in Saudi Arabia after responding to false jobs in job advertisements in our newspapers,” she said.
Most of the duped job seekers are trafficked to work as sex slaves or forced labourers, she added.
Sr. Janice’s book, On the Frontline: Rural Catholic Missions and Zimbabwe’s Liberation War, a first-hand account of the war, was published in 1995. She co-authored a training manual to train communities to lobby for changes in policies affecting their lives.
Sr. Janice’s book, On the Frontline: Rural Catholic Missions and Zimbabwe’s Liberation War, a first-hand account of the war, was published in 1995. She co-authored a training manual to train communities to lobby for changes in policies affecting their lives.
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