Human trafficking

Richard A. Sokerka

Millions of eyes will be focused on Super Bowl LII, when the New England Patriots and the Philadelphia Eagles play Feb. 4 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.

But as the kick-off nears, victim advocates are warning all of us about a darker side to major sporting events: human trafficking.

Most Americans are unaware that those who deal in human trafficking are attracted to the sites of major sporting events.

To raise awareness, “In Our Backyard,” a nonprofit that works to provide “pathways to freedom” for the victims of human trafficking, will distribute “Freedom Stickers” that contain the number for the National Human Trafficking Hotline to encourage women who are in an unsafe situation to call or text the number. “In Our Backyard” has held similar events for the past eight Super Bowls.

According to the U.S. Department of State, between 600,000 and 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders every year, while the Department of Justice estimates that more than 17,000 people are trafficked into the United States itself.

The Department of Justice also has identified 83 percent of victims in confirmed sex trafficking incidents as U.S. citizens. Many U.S. victims of sex trafficking do not fit the stereotypes many associate with vulnerable populations, but instead come from a wide variety of racial and economic backgrounds, both rich and poor. Victims do tend to have one trait in common: youth, because they are easy to manipulate and so are the most vulnerable. The average age of entry into sex trafficking is between 11 and 14. Meanwhile, 67 percent of labor trafficking victims, the department says, are undocumented immigrants, with an additional 28 percent consisting of documented immigrants.

Last July, on the World Day against Trafficking in Persons, Pope Francis warned us all against ‘getting used’ to trafficking in persons, treating it as if it were a ‘normal thing,’ when in reality it is, he said, ‘ugly, cruel, criminal, an aberrant plague, a modern form of slavery, a crime against humanity.”

They are recruited, transported, or harbored under coercion, threats or use of force. They are exploited through forced labor, sexual coercion or removal of organs. Yet, this plague on society remains largely in the shadows — especially in the United States.

Consider this: Each year in the U.S. alone, some 300,000 minors are victims of sex trafficking. It is happening every day here; in our hometowns and in our neighborhoods. No one is immune to it.

We need to be more aware, to lend our voices and our hearts to stopping this “modern-day slavery” and to pray. The feast of St. Josephine Bakhita, an ex-slave from Sudan, coincides with the Feb. 8 International Day of Prayer and Awareness against Human Trafficking. Pray that this saint, once a victim, can help us all to eradicate human trafficking in our society.