Human trafficking

RICHARD A. SOKERKA

As millions of Americans look forward to this weekend’s Super Bowl game matching the Cincinnati Bengals against the Los Angeles Rams, very few know that in Los Angeles, which is host to this year’s Super Bowl, Sheriff Alex Villanueva is warning residents and those traveling there to attend the game that the event is a magnet for human trafficking.

“The Super Bowl ends up being one of the major events that draws human traffickers to the region,” the sheriff said. “Anyone can become a victim of human trafficking.”

Southern California is already a hot spot for human trafficking, in part because of large runaway and homeless youth populations and proximity to international borders.

That stark warning from the sheriff might be a shock to most of us, who may think human trafficking is something that happens mainly in third-world nations, but not here.

According to a report by the Global Sla­very Index, as many as 1 in 800 Ameri­cans is currently a victim of human trafficking. It also found much higher rates of modern-day slavery in developed nations than previously believed.

Andrew Forrest, founder of the Global Slavery Index, called the report “a huge wakeup call. The pressure to respond to this appalling human crime must shift from poorer countries to richer nations that have the resources and institutions to do much better.”

U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R.-N.J.), who leads the House subcommittee dealing with global human rights, has said, “Human traffickers have benefitted from a culture of denial and a lack of awareness throughout our communities. Education and awareness programs — especially and including those provided by local grassroots organizations — are the victim’s best friend and the trafficker’s worst nightmare and go a long way toward preventing this heinous crime in the first place.”

The Church has long been outspoken about the horrors of human trafficking. Pope Francis has said that human trafficking is, “without doubt, a crime against humanity for its violation of human dignity and freedom. Traffick­ing seriously damages humanity as a whole, tearing apart the human family and the Body of Christ.”

Feb. 8 was the eighth International Day of Prayer and Awareness against Human Trafficking and on that day at the Vatican a bronze statue of St. Josephine Bakhita, patron of human trafficking victims, was placed in St. Peter’s Square, dedicated to trafficking victims. The artwork depicts the saint, herself once a slave, freeing a mass of people from underground.

Feb. 8 was also the feast day of St. Jose­phine Bakhita, who was born in Sudan in 1869. She was kidnapped at the age of seven and sold into slavery by Arab slave traders. During her time as a slave, she was beaten, tortured, and scarred. She discovered Christ and the Church in her early 20s, and after she was freed from slavery, she was baptized a Catholic. She then joined the Canossian Sisters in Italy.

St. Bakhita was beatified in 1992 and canonized in 2000 by St. Pope John Paul II. She is the first canonized saint from Sudan, and is the country’s patron saint.

Throughout his pontificate, Pope Francis has highlighted St. Bakhita’s example of holiness, and invoked the saint’s intercession for victims of trafficking. “St. Bakhita, assist all those who are trapped in a state of slavery; intercede with God on their behalf so that the chains of their captivity can be broken,” Pope Francis prayed.

On Super Bowl Sunday and every day, may we recall the awful horror and sinfulness that human trafficking is, and in union with the Holy Father, pray to St. Bakhita for an end to human trafficking here in our communities and worldwide.