Human trafficking isn’t someone else’s problem

By Peter Finney Jr.
Clarion Herald

The new movie, “Sound of Freedom,” is a raw account of the insidious assault on human life and dignity represented by human trafficking.

“Sound of Freedom” is based on the real-life experience of Tim Ballard, a former agent of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, who feels compelled to walk away from his job so that he has the personal latitude to do what his conscience tells him he must.

Ballard travels to Honduras, infiltrates a ring of traffickers and ultimately rescues two young Honduran siblings from their sexual enslavement.

While the movie sends a sobering message about the horrors of human trafficking,  Father Jeff Bayhi, a priest of the Diocese of Baton Rouge who has established a safe house for adolescent female trafficking victims, says it may give some viewers a distorted impression of the reality of trafficking.

“First of all, it’s a powerful story, it’s a harrowing story and I believe every bit of the story,” Father Bayhi said. “But, the real thing is, it’s not our story. Most people are not aware of the problem, and are not aware of the fact that it is local.”

House launched in 2018

Father Bayhi opened Metanoia Manor in the Diocese of Baton Rouge in 2018 to provide residential, faith-based care for adolescent female victims of human trafficking.

“We’ve served 85 children,” Father Bayhi said. “Eighty-two of them have been American-born citizens. And, of those 82, 78 were Louisiana residents, and only three were international.”

So, while many in recent years have pointed to a leaky southern border as the cause of the human trafficking problems in the U.S., Father Bayhi says that distorts the reality.

“Everyone thinks that the failed border policy is the reason why there is human trafficking – and certainly, that contributes to it,” Father Bayhi said. “But we have enough victims locally without that, and we’ve been fighting this for 5 1/2 years.”

Metanoia Manor currently houses 11 girls. It is the only shelter in the United States that can care for children ages “zero to 18.” Pregnant girls are ministered to by five Italian nuns – the Hospitaller Sisters of Mercy – who Father Bayhi recruited in Rome. Four of the Mercy sisters are nurses, and the other is a social worker.

The girls are provided mental health counseling, academic instruction and life skills, and nuns live out the message that they are loved by God despite everything they have endured. If the girls are pregnant, they can keep their babies or place them for adoption.

Scarce dollars

Another interdenominational house in the New Orleans area – a northshore home called “Free Indeed” – operated for several years until it was forced to close recently for lack of funding, said anti-trafficking volunteer Yvette Fouchi, a parishioner of St. Edward the Confessor in Metairie.

Fouchi’s small army of anti-trafficking foes prays a rosary on the second Sunday of the month after the 8 a.m. Mass, using the life of the enslaved St. Josephine Bakhita as a focus of prayer.

“People think this is a problem far, far away – over there!” Fouchi said. “That’s just not the case. These are children who are being sold by their families. I dealt with one case of a mother who sold her daughter for sexual favors to support her drug habit. This is real.”

Cindy Collins, another local anti-trafficking voice, said one victim had been forced to have 17 abortions.

But why does the crime of trafficking fly so far under the radar?

“We are so good at sanitizing many things,” Father Bayhi said. “This is one of those things that no one wants to dare believe. In our woke country, where you can lose your tenured professorship for using the wrong pronoun, we have 5 1/2 million people trafficked in the United States every year. Sixty percent of those are juveniles, and 30% of those juveniles are little boys.”

The annual budget for Metanoia Manor is $850,000. Father Bayhi gets some state money but relies on the kindness of faith-filled strangers to support his work.

“What is amazing is that people readily give $19 a month to help puppies and kittens,” he said. “I’d love to have that many people give us $20 a month to care for children. I’ve got nothing against puppies and kittens, but I love humans a lot more. We have over 5,000 animal rescue shelters in the United States, each one holding 100 to 1,000 abused animals. We have less than 700 beds total for 5 1/2 million people trafficked in a year.”

And, he says, that 5 1/2 million statistic does not take into account the border situation, which obviously is adding to the problem.

“We have not yet discovered what the coyotes (smugglers)are doing,” he said. “We know there are 85,000 unaccounted minors that have disappeared in the U.S. It’s going to blow up a lot more. We have yet to tap into that underground railroad that is human trafficking.”

A pro-life issue

Ben Clapper, executive director of Louisiana Right to Life, said traffickers use abortion to hide their abuse by forcing pregnant victims to have abortions.

“As soon as the abortion is complete, the traffickers send the woman back into their sex slavery,” Clapper said.

Louisiana Right to Life has successfully advocated for tougher state laws against trafficking. In 2019, abortion businesses were required to report suspicions about trafficking to police. Since the overturn of Roe v. Wade and the closure of Louisiana abortion facilities, Clapper said the goal now is to end the abortion trafficking of underage girls across state lines for abortion against their will.

“Women being forced against their will to have an abortion is also a form of human trafficking,” Clapper said.

Father Bayhi, who retired in June as a pastor, and Father Chuck Swanson, a retired priest of the Archdiocese of Omaha, are traveling the country with thoughts on how to replicate the Metanoia Manor model.

Father Bayhi is appalled that 42% of the trafficking victims in Louisiana are juveniles who are trafficked by “their primary caretaker.”

“And that’s not going to change from state to state,” Father Swanson said. “It’s mother, father, grandmother, the mother’s boyfriend, aunts.”

Some of the stories are even harder to believe. A senior in high school was arrested for trafficking two freshmen girls.

“Why is that not all over the place?” Father Bayhi said. “Why is the fact that the police caught a 47-year-old man having sex with a 14-year-old girl not reported? Why do we protect these people? I’ve got my own theory. The problem is bigger than we think. Two weeks ago in Houston, they had an international meeting for minor-attracted adults – pedophiles. The Connecticut Legislature passed a bill this year to protect minor-attracted adults from discrimination. So, how far up does this go? How do we not know who was on Jeffrey Epstein’s plane? The media is not talking about it.”

Father Bayhi said it is incumbent on Catholics to educate all households of faith and mobilize action against trafficking.

“But you can’t educate unless you educate yourself first,” he said.

He remains hopeful.

“My children give me hope,” he said.

For more information on Metanoia Manor, go to www.metanoia-inc.org.

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