As one of the largest sport venues, it may surprise you to know the Super Bowl is one of the biggest magnets of underage sex trafficking, and in the last two Super Bowls alone, over 50 underage girls were found and rescued from the sex slave trade. Here's more on this story:
Pimps will traffic thousands of under-age prostitutes to Texas for Sunday's Super Bowl, hoping to do business with men arriving for the big game with money to burn, child rights advocates said. As the country's largest sporting event, the game between the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers will make the Dallas-Fort Worth area a magnet for business of all kinds. That includes the multimillion dollar, under-age sex industry, said activists and law enforcement officials working to combat what they say is an annual spike in trafficking of under-age girls ahead of the Super Bowl.
"The Super Bowl is one of the biggest human trafficking events in the United States," Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott told a trafficking prevention meeting in January.
There's a huge advocacy campaign called "I'm Not Buying It" asking the NFL to spread awareness about sex trafficking to prevent the abuse of underage girls. It has the support of NFL football stars such as Dallas Cowboy Jay Ratliff and the campaign is doing PSA videos like these below:
And what did the NFL do in response to sex trafficking victims and to the supporters of the "I'm Not Buying It" campaign? The NFL ignored their requests to raise awareness, and has not responded to their inquiries for help in this advocacy campaign.
A.H. knows the Super Bowl Host Committee and NFL can be instrumental in helping stop this systematic exploitation by endorsing Traffick911's "I'm Not Buying It" campaign and sharing campaign materials during the game. It's easy, it's painless, and it could make a huge difference for the many girls like A.H. who are trafficked for sex at the Super Bowl every year. But so far, both the NFL and the Host Committee are ignoring the request made by A.H., several anti-trafficking organizations, and over 68,000 Change.org members.
Even Dallas Cowboy Jay Ratliff has jumped on board the "I'm Not Buying It" campaign train, creating an awesome PSA about how to prevent child sex trafficking, that you can check out after the jump. But hearing the message from one of their own still hasn't been enough to move the NFL and committee.
The Super Bowl is only a week away, and time is running out. Please join the over 68,000 other Change.org members who have told the NFL and 2011 Super Bowl Host Committee that fighting child sex trafficking during the Super Bowl is important, and asked them to endorse the "I'm Not Buying It" campaign to end it. Because whether it's one trafficking survivor or 68,000 advocates asking the question, the NFL owes an answer.
Please sign the petition asking the NFL Super Bowl Host Committee to support this advocacy campaign and prevent the sex trafficking of young women and underage girls to major sporting events like the Super Bowl!
However, the children trafficked to DFW to meet the demand of the Super Bowl are being left to fend for themselves. According to the Dallas Police Department children exploited through sex trafficking have an average life expectancy is just seven short years. The average age a child is tricked and trapped in sexual slavery is just 13 years old. These children are beaten, brutalized and tortured for the profit and pleasure of others.
This Super Bowl Host Committee’s hard work has turned the North Texas Region into a showcase with a record number of million-dollar sponsors, state-of-the-art infrastructure and events that appeal across audiences. They’ve set the standard for the Super Bowl experience.
Now, let’s join together and ask the Host Committee to take a stand and set the standard for all Super Bowl Host Committees to come. The Host Committee has the biggest megaphone to prevent the buying and selling of American children during this year’s festivities. Law enforcement, legislators, non-profits, churches and business all are stepping up to the plate to stop this horrific abuse of our children. It’s time that the Host Committee faces the reality that children will be trafficked to North Texas and answer the question – What role will they play in preventing the sex trafficking of children during the Super Bowl?
With 50,000 to 100,000 young women and underage girls coming to Dallas-Ft. Worth for prostitution through human trafficking for the Super Bowl, this is a major issue that more people need to be aware about in understanding the costs associated with major sporting events like the Super Bowl. If you're in town to watch the Super Bowl game live with your family and friends, please be on the lookout for any potential sex trafficking victims and call the authorities so these young women and underage children can be rescued.
Even though I'll be enjoying the Super Bowl game on Sunday, I support advocacy campaigns like the "I'm Not Buying It" campaign and the good work of activists in raising awareness about the dark underside of sex trafficking associated with sporting events. I hope you will too.