During these six weeks leading up to Aguchita’s birthday, we shall share reflections on how her life and ministry echoed each of the six areas of intervention for the Congregation – long before they were defined in our Position Papers.

In this, our second reflection, we read about Aguchita’s approach to gender-based violence and women in situations of prostitution. Aguchita did not accept prostitution as a profession and saw it as something that challenged the harmony of human development and the fabric of society.

In the following excerpt, adapted from the book Aguchita: Mercy and Justice, we see how articulate she was about her feelings towards prostitution and how she actively educated the sisters in her community about its exploitative and abusive nature.

Aguchita often talked about the “souls that were being lost,” “the young people who were being led into the abyss,” and about “girls falling prey to prostitution and alcoholism.” In conversations with her sisters, she never ceased to talk about the women who were abused and used as objects rather than treated like people. She wondered: “Why must these women suffer, are they not created in the image of God, too?”

The Congregation’s position calls us to articulate that prostitution is a form of gender-based violence and to express solidarity with all those who are vulnerable to all forms of gender-based violence.

Today (May 17) – on the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia – we invite you to express solidarity with all those who are victims of gender-based violence because they challenge traditional gender roles and stereotypes, particularly LGBTIQA+ persons.

As a Congregation, we stand firm in our commitment to providing inclusive and culturally safe spaces and services for all, including LGBTIQA+ people. Today, let us stand up for justice and protection for all; alongside Aguchita we ask why must they suffer, “are they not created in the image of God, too?”