{"id":5292,"date":"2018-02-01T18:24:35","date_gmt":"2018-02-01T18:24:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.safehorizon.org\/?p=5292"},"modified":"2025-06-10T13:08:50","modified_gmt":"2025-06-10T17:08:50","slug":"super-bowl-sex-trafficking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.safehorizon.org\/safe-blog\/super-bowl-sex-trafficking\/","title":{"rendered":"Let\u2019s Talk About The Super Bowl Sex Trafficking Myth. And Why It\u2019s Harmful."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Let\u2019s<\/p>\n

By Ariel Zwang<\/em>
\nFebruary 1, 2018<\/em><\/p>\n

Justin Timberlake will be headlining the Super Bowl halftime show, yet he is not the only headline surrounding the biggest sporting event of 2018. So is the often spoken about uptick in sex trafficking. The Super Bowl is often referred to as the single largest human trafficking incident in the United States.<\/p>\n

This simply isn\u2019t true. The Super Bowl sex trafficking hype is just that. It\u2019s a myth based on speculation and not hard numbers\u2014there are limited facts about professional sporting events and trafficking.<\/p>\n

This doesn\u2019t mean that sex-trafficking does not happen around the Super Bowl. It may, and attempts to help victims are useful. But trafficking happens year round\u2014it does not end once the Vince Lombardi Trophy is handed to the winning team. Our efforts should be focused on how we help trafficking survivors rebuild their lives every day of the year.<\/p>\n

But what gives this myth such staying power? Some advocates believe that it stems from the idea that when large groups of men at sporting events come together that there is an increased demand for commercial sex, and that this demand is met through trafficking women and young girls. And, then there are also incorrect stats and information that continue to circulate to support the idea that sex trafficking increases around the Super Bowl. One of the most common is that in 2010, allegedly more than 10,000 exploited women and girls were trafficked to Miami for the Super Bowl.<\/p>\n

This number is false. It has been incorrectly attributed to The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children which denied the statistic in a statement, noting that \u201cNo one knows with certainty the exact number of children exploited through sex trafficking in the United States or during events like the Super Bowl.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

And what about labor trafficking?<\/h2>\n

Often times around a big sporting event, there is new construction or an increase in demand for hotel services. We at Safe Horizon hear from survivors every day what it is like to be a human link in a cruel and profiteering business supply chain that allows us to have a clean hotel room on vacation, at a sporting event or get food at a restaurant.<\/p>\n

With the promise of a \u201cgood job in the United States,<\/em>\u201d survivors often leave their countries (and families) at a chance of providing a better quality of life for themselves and loved ones. They enter the country legally to encounter a different reality. They end up trafficked and without the support, resources and language skills to free themselves.<\/p>\n

They are forced into labor, at times as hotel or construction workers. Often times, they aren\u2019t paid, checks are late or their wages withheld. If they complain or advocate for themselves, they are silenced with threats of deportation or abuse, even harm to their families at home.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s understandable though why the threat of an increase in sex trafficking seems more urgent, even if less plausible than labor trafficking. We are outraged at the thought of an innocent woman or child being forced to have sex against their will. It\u2019s vile. It\u2019s disgusting. It\u2019s not ok. And if we suspect it\u2019s happening around us, we feel that we must surely stop it.<\/p>\n

But this rise to action can be misdirected. It\u2019s not quite clear how much money is spent on prevention efforts around sex trafficking for the Super Bowl, but what is clear is that the lack of funding is a major issue for many organizations helping survivors of human trafficking. This money could be better allocated to support year-round services, such as emergency shelter.<\/p>\n

So, let\u2019s not focus on the myth that the Super Bowl is this monumental sex trafficking event. Let\u2019s instead understand the harsh reality that trafficking happens every day in our communities, and sometimes at the click of a button. The internet, which is available 24 hours, 365 days, and 7 days a week makes recruiting victims easier. Anyone, such as sex traffickers or labor recruiters, with access, can be involved.<\/p>\n

With this threat of immediate access to exploit another human being looming over us, surely that\u2019s enough reason to shift our attention to provide victims with the critical services they need to come out of a trafficking situation all year long\u2014not just during the Super Bowl. And, giving labor trafficking survivors the same importance afforded to survivors of sex trafficking is equally necessary to truly tackle this problem. Services like shelter, medical care, long-term trauma counseling, education and job training can make a profound difference for all survivors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Is there a correlation between the Super Bowl and increased incidents of sex trafficking? CEO Ariel Zwang demystifies the link between professional sporting events and human trafficking.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":{"id":5293,"alt_text":"Let\u2019s Talk About The Super Bowl Sex Trafficking Myth. And Why It\u2019s Harmful.","caption":"","description":"","media_type":"image","media_details":{"width":800,"height":450,"file":"2018\/02\/Let\u2019s-Talk-About-The-Super-Bowl-Sex-Trafficking-Myth.-And-Why-It\u2019s-Harmful..jpg","sizes":{"thumbnail":{"file":"Let\u2019s-Talk-About-The-Super-Bowl-Sex-Trafficking-Myth.-And-Why-It\u2019s-Harmful.-150x150.jpg","width":150,"height":150,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/www.safehorizon.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Let\u2019s-Talk-About-The-Super-Bowl-Sex-Trafficking-Myth.-And-Why-It\u2019s-Harmful.-150x150.jpg"},"medium":{"file":"Let\u2019s-Talk-About-The-Super-Bowl-Sex-Trafficking-Myth.-And-Why-It\u2019s-Harmful.-300x169.jpg","width":300,"height":169,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/www.safehorizon.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Let\u2019s-Talk-About-The-Super-Bowl-Sex-Trafficking-Myth.-And-Why-It\u2019s-Harmful.-300x169.jpg"},"medium_large":{"file":"Let\u2019s-Talk-About-The-Super-Bowl-Sex-Trafficking-Myth.-And-Why-It\u2019s-Harmful.-768x432.jpg","width":768,"height":432,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/www.safehorizon.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Let\u2019s-Talk-About-The-Super-Bowl-Sex-Trafficking-Myth.-And-Why-It\u2019s-Harmful.-768x432.jpg"}},"image_meta":{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0","keywords":[]}},"post":5292,"source_url":"https:\/\/www.safehorizon.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Let\u2019s-Talk-About-The-Super-Bowl-Sex-Trafficking-Myth.-And-Why-It\u2019s-Harmful..jpg"},"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2015],"tags":[133,352,127,731],"class_list":["post-5292","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-safe-blog","tag-human-trafficking","tag-labor-trafficking","tag-sex-trafficking","tag-super-bowl","issue-human-trafficking"],"acf":{"page_header_title":"","page_header_image":"https:\/\/www.safehorizon.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/silhouette_hero_image.png","original_url":"","related_initiative_title":"How do we help survivors of human trafficking?","related_initiative_link":"\/get-help\/human-trafficking\/","related_initiative_link_text":"Learn about our services","featured_posts":[{"ID":4377,"post_author":"13","post_date":"2017-04-25 20:01:39","post_date_gmt":"2017-04-25 20:01:39","post_content":"\"Olivia\r\n\r\nApril 25, 2017<\/em>\r\nBy Olivia Wilson<\/em>\r\n\r\nHuman trafficking is one of the world's fastest growing criminal enterprises. The Safe Horizon Anti-Trafficking Program (ATP) assists victims of this crime including men and women, adults and children, foreign nationals and U.S. citizens in cases of both labor trafficking and sex trafficking. While some victims of trafficking are hidden behind locked doors in private homes or brothels, others are in plain sight in restaurants, hotels or retail stores. Traffickers use a variety of tactics to control their victims including physical restraint and psychological coercion.\r\n\r\nSince 2000, the U.S. has taken a global, holistic approach to combating human trafficking by enacting and reauthorizing the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), the first comprehensive federal law to address human trafficking. After its initial passing, every several years the law has to be reauthorized, the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA), to maintain core measures and increase protections to ensure we continue the fight against an evolving crime. In this post, I will explain the important components of this law and how it enables our ATP to help human trafficking victims.\r\n

Explanation of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act<\/h1>\r\nThe three arms of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act are prevention, protection and prosecution.\r\n