‘Sound of Freedom’ Is Stirring Hearts to Help Victims of Sex Trafficking

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Through the Sisters of Mary, more than 21,000 children from six countries are annually provided care and education at World Villages’ Boystowns and Girlstowns to prevent and in some cases save them from human trafficking.

The scourge of such trafficking is insidious.

“A few days ago, at lunch in Mexico, I was speaking with three graduates of the Girlstown communities, who each revealed firsthand accounts of sex slavery,” Kevin Wells, vice president of public relations for World Villages, told the Register.

“One told me she recently went to visit a friend in the state of Chiapas, Mexico. Her friend’s father routinely visited a notorious bar-like setting where small children performed sexual acts on him and other men. She said most people in the town knew about the bar, including local politicians and police, but would do nothing to shut it down,” he continued. “The violence of poverty has intensified sex slavery and trafficking in the poor countries where the sisters work.”

The need to combat such horrors makes Sound of Freedom, the new hit movie based on a true story, timely, shining light on the dark world of child sex trafficking.

“The movie gripped me from the beginning,” said Wells.

“I guess I would classify it as a thriller, but it was far more because it cast light on a third-rail topic that has been mostly untouched by the media, politicians and the Catholic Church,” he said.

“Some scenes were difficult to watch, but thank God the producers and actors held up this evil for the world to see. Sound of Freedom merely scrapes the surface of the sick underworld; the hope is that a galvanizing force can begin to attack this demonic strain amongst us. Sadly, this darkness has spread everywhere in America, where men have become the ‘purchasers’ and ‘users.’”

And that’s why the work at World Villages, which has helped more than 150,000 children and their families break free from poverty, is imperative.

Read the full story by Patti Maguire Armstrong and Martin Barillas on The National Catholic Register

Category: Arts and Creative Activism