Unless you have been living under a rock over the past year, you have heard a lot about human trafficking. What is human trafficking? Human trafficking is an exchange of a human for money or goods. There are many types of human trafficking, including sex trafficking and labor trafficking. This industry earns a profit of roughly $150 billion per year and comes in second to drug trafficking as the world’s largest criminal industry. Around 40 million people, possibly more, are affected by this industry at this moment. A large percent of the 40 million are victims of sex trafficking, and half, or more, of those individuals are children.
This brings us to the meat of this article. When cities host major sporting events, such as the Super Bowl, employment of temporary workers is required. These increased demands can open the door for an abundance of human trafficking. Some are brought in for labor, and yes, others are brought in for sex. According to the “Shut Out Trafficking” program, There’s a spike of reported incidents, yearly in the United States, around January through February (Super Bowl). After February, the numbers drop. Sex rings will travel from location to location in order to meet demands of large sporting events. However, the Super Bowl is not alone in this. In 2019, a few months after the Super Bowl, 58 people were arrested for sex trafficking during the NCAA Men’s Tournament Final Four in Minneapolis. Out of the 58 people arrested, 47 were charged with felony solicitation of a minor. Sadly other big sporting events also increase trafficking yearly. So, while watching the Super Bowl this year, please be praying for these victims and please don’t stop raising awareness on this subject by sharing posts, sharing what to look for, sharing survivor stories, etc. Raising awareness is an important part of this fight.
#defendthevoiceless
Sources: ESPN, ACAMS Today