As the 2026 World Cup quickly approaches, and with host venues including MetLife Stadium in the Meadowlands and in nearby Philadelphia, faith leaders are hosting a special webinar to draw attention to human trafficking.
A free webinar, “Human Trafficking and Major Sporting Events,” will feature experts who will share their perspectives on the intersection between human trafficking and events like the World Cup. It is being hosted by the New Jersey Catholic Conference in partnership with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference. The webinar will take place at 6:30 p.m. on June 9.
“While these events are not in and of themselves responsible for the trafficking, by default these are the things that can come when you bring a big event like this to a certain area,” said James King, executive director of the New Jersey Catholic Conference. “These are high-tourist events, there are lots of people coming in and out, and there is a lot of downtime involved.”
Standing Up for Human Dignity
The fight against human trafficking is deeply entrenched in Catholic social teaching and is part of the work of the USCCB through its Anti-Trafficking Program and its Migration and Refugee Services initiative.
According to the USCCB, the anti-trafficking program “aims to educate on the scourge of human trafficking as an offense against the fundamental dignity of the human person, to advocate for its end, and to provide training and technical assistance to support survivors.”
The conference estimates that some 17,000 vulnerable people are trafficked across American borders each year and subsequently forced into slavery.
“Trafficking is a direct assault on the dignity of the human person, and the Catholic Church stands at the forefront of these issues that attack that dignity,” King said. “We all have a responsibility to ensure that the gift of life at any stage is not attacked, misused or objectified.”
Tools to Fight Trafficking
The webinar will include expert insights into the issue of human trafficking and perspectives from law enforcement officials and legislators on current efforts to combat the issue. It will also offer practical ways for individuals and communities to recognize and prevent trafficking. Everyone from clergy and parish leaders, to parishioners and those interested in learning more, are encouraged to participate.
“We don’t want people to lose focus on the fact that this [trafficking] could possibly be taking place,” King said. “The more awareness we raise … increases the chances that we can stop, prevent or even help people who are the victims of this form of modern-day slavery.”
King was also part of efforts to raise awareness of human trafficking around large-scale events when New Jersey hosted the Super Bowl in 2014. At the time, the N.J. Legislature took up a package of bills to expand resources for those being trafficked and increase penalties for offenders.
“We want people to understand that this is still going on,” he said, noting that the issue can take the form of labor trafficking, as well as sex trafficking.
The webinar will also feature the SOAP Project – “Save Our Adolescents from Prostitution” – a nonprofit organization founded by an advocate and survivor. One of its key initiatives is the distribution of millions of bars of soap, hand labeled with a red band bearing the National Human Trafficking Hotline number, to motels to offer victims a discrete way to seek help.
King noted his hope that the webinar will help attendees learn more about what public officials are doing around the issue.
“Because both states [New Jersey and Pennsylvania] are hosting World Cup matches starting in June, and New Jersey will host the final match,” he said, “we want people to hear what their states have done, and are doing, to combat this issue.”
King also hopes attendees will come away with an understanding of who to call if they believe human trafficking is taking place. He added that organizers seek to eliminate possible hesitancy around reporting a suspicion out of fear that it might be unfounded.
“It’s better to say something and be wrong, than not to say something and it be a form of trafficking,” he said. “If you have a reasonable suspicion, it is better to say something.”
Those interested in joining the free webinar can register at tinyurl.com/28az99r8.
If you or someone you know is a victim of human trafficking, contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1 (888) 373-7888 or by visiting humantraffickinghotline.org.
This article appears courtesy of The Monitor, the Catholic magazine of the Diocese of Trenton.
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