Louisiana has seen a 34% one-year surge in the number of people receiving care, related to confirmed and suspected human trafficking cases, which comes to well over 2,000 individuals. That’s according to the latest findings from Louisiana’s 2025 Human Trafficking Data Report, based on numbers from 2024, compared to 2023.
The study also revealed that Caddo Parish was among the top three parishes for trafficking cases, with 127 victims. Only Orleans Parish (227), and East Baton Rouge Parish (201), ranked higher among Louisiana’s 64 parishes.
Experts point out such figures are very likely just the proverbial ‘tip of the iceberg’ because official statistics only represent reported cases. Analysts point to both Interstate 20 and Interstate 49 cutting through the heart of Caddo Parish, with traffickers typically operating out of hotels and motels, which collectively create an intersection of opportunity and convenience for such criminal activity.
Laurie McGehee, the executive director of the FREE (Fight, Restore, Empower, Educate) Coalition, a nonprofit agency based in Shreveport, explains that human Trafficking can happen to anyone, anywhere, at any time. And McGehee says victims are often hidden in plain sight, living in our own neighborhoods. She explains how traffickers may use force, fraud, or coercion to exploit victims.
The FREE Coalition, she says, raises awareness and offers comprehensive training. It is designed to educate individuals, school personnel, organizations and law enforcement to help them better identify, prevent and combat human trafficking. And McGehee says it was her time working as a probation officer in the juvenile court system that really opened her eyes to the sheer magnitude of human trafficking right here in our own backyard. In fact, she strongly suspects that reporting of suspected cases has likely improved in recent years, which could skew the results of what appears to be huge increases in trafficking activities.
McGehee works closely with several other local agencies, including the Gingerbread House Child Advocacy Center, Volunteers for Youth Justice (VYJ), and the Caddo Parish District Attorney’s office, to name but a few. She expressed optimism that more people in the community may step forward and volunteer some of their time to help, as well. “People that are willing to come and be trained as mentors to work with some of these children that have been trafficked and obviously children that are in foster care. We need CASA volunteers. We need foster homes.”
- To contact Free Coalition call 318-458-1702. The agency’s website is https://freecoalitionnwla.com/.
- You can also email laurie@freecoalitionnwla.com.
- To report suspected human trafficking to Federal law enforcement call 1-866-347-2423.
- To get help from the National Human Trafficking Hotline call 1-888-373-7888 or text HELP or INFO to BeFree (233733).
You can hear more from Laurie McGehee in an upcoming edition of Community Connections with host Heather Carpenter, PhD, right here on Red river Radio on Monday nights at 6:30. An exact air date has yet to be determined for this episode.
Carpenter serves as executive director of LSU Shreveport’s Institute for Nonprofit Administration and Research (INAR). During the Community Connections program, Dr. Carpenter directed some of her questions to get to the heart of what makes the FREE Coalition a successful nonprofit.
