Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
People display signs in Los Angeles during the 2015 "Walk 4 Freedom" in advance of National Human Trafficking Awareness Day. (CNS photo/Victor Aleman, Vida Nueva)  

The Super Bowl is the largest sporting and television event in the country. Tens of thousands will flock to the stadium, and millions will watch from home. However, at events like this, it is essential we keep track of not only the game but also the potential victims of human trafficking who are vulnerable at these large gatherings. Every year, 50 million people are trafficked somewhere in the world for either labor or sex.

Joining Gloria on “The Gloria Purvis Podcast” is Sister Anne Victory, a board member at U.S. Catholic Sisters Against Human Trafficking, who has led efforts against human trafficking for over a decade.

According to the U.S. Sisters Against Human Trafficking, this crime “occurs when a trafficker uses force, fraud or coercion to control another person for the purpose of engaging in commercial sex acts or soliciting labor or services against his/her will.”

Sister Anne describes the most common circumstances in which people get trafficked, profiles of traffickers and what to look out for. If you suspect someone is being trafficked, please call (888) 373-7888. Even if you’re not certain, Sister Anne encourages you to report what you see and leave the investigation with local law enforcement who are specially trained for these cases: “Just know that they’d rather have you report it and save someone’s life than be wrong.”

While the topic of human trafficking is dark, Sister Anne continues to find hope in her work to end it. “I think one of the ways that I keep the faith is I’ve seen the difference since when we started 15 years ago working on this. And now people are a little more aware,” Sister Anne says. “Even becoming educated about it is doing something, becoming involved in fair trade and understanding what fair trade is and how our purchases make a difference, or how the stock we hold makes a difference.”

Links from the show:

The latest from america

Pope Leo XIV urged new archbishops to help him foster unity in a church rich in diversity. Eight of those new archbishops are from the United States, and they spoke to Catholic News Service about how they can help promote fraternity in today’s polarized world.
This week on “Jesuitical,” Zac and Ashley chat with Christopher White about his new book, ‘Pope Leo XVI: Inside the Conclave and the Dawn of a New Papacy.’
JesuiticalJune 30, 2025
Kerry Weber, incoming president of the Catholic Media Association, and executive editor of America Magazine, speaks June 26, 2025, during the Catholic Media Conference in Phoenix. (OSV News photo/Bob Roller)
Kerry Weber is an executive editor for America. On May 20, 2025, the Catholic Media Association announced that she was elected president,
Grace LenahanJune 30, 2025
"The whole church needs fraternity, which must be present in all of our relationships, whether between lay people and priests, priests and bishops, bishops and the pope," he said during his homily at Mass on the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul June 29.