The Super Bowl and Human Trafficking

It's Super Bowl day once again and there is excitement in the air.  People are planning their parties and deciding which team they will be rooting for.  But what you may not know is how the Super Bowl can and does have an affect on human trafficking.

 

Large sporting events like the Super Bowl draw people from all over.  People with a lot of money... and traffickers follow money.  They will bring women to whatever city is hosting the Super Bowl with the sole intention of exploiting them. 

 

Super Bowl Player               vs.                    Trafficking victim

Excited                                                        Scared

Cheers from fans                                         Threats from her controller

Sense of pride                                             Sense of shame

Proud to put on his uniform                        Disgusted to put on her “uniform”

Keeps what he earns                                   Earnings taken by her pimp

Admired                                                      Disgraced

Relives the glory                                         Relives the horror

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott called the Super Bowl “the single largest human trafficking incident in the United States.”











"Arrests of pimps running underage sex rings are reported at the National Football League’s championship game almost every year, with girls being trafficking from as far away as Hawaii to hook up with clients via the Internet, hotels and strip clubs.

U.S. police arrested about 750 people in nationwide sex-trafficking sting operations ahead of last year’s Super Bowl" 

(Source: Reuters)

     

Here  a former sex trafficking victim shines light on dark underworld of Super Bowl

 

The good news in all of this is that awareness of this issue has increased.  Many organizations will travel to Super Bowl city to do outreach and try to identify and rescue victims.  Last month our group helped paint 10,000 bricks that have been taken to Super Bowl and placed all around the city. On the back of each brick is the trafficking hotline # where a victim can call for help or someone who sees trafficking can report it.  I heard that as of Thursday last week they have rescued 23 women.

 

 

 

So as you prepare to watch the big game, remember those who have a much different perspective. Those who may be there by force and are having to sell their bodies. Pray for them. Pray for their rescue and restoration.