While thousands of sports fans are gearing up for the Super Bowl to be played between Denver and Seattle on February 2 in East Rutherford, New Jersey, politicans and law enforcement personnel are preparing to crack down on sex trafficking ahead of the game. New Jersey has hired a former victim of sex trafficking to help train officers and increase awareness of the issue. Approximately 3,000 law enforcement officials will be in the game area. Demand for prostitutes surges during the week before the Super Bowl and traffickers cash in forcing people brought illegally into this country to work during game week. It is estimated that there are 12,000 sex trafficking victims working in the US currently.
Activists also plan to hold a “Blitz the Trafficker” campaign and experienced coalition members will attend events surrounding the game. There, they will hand out fliers with missing children’s photos, New Jersey’s trafficking hotline number and information about signs that someone is being trafficked. This is a link to their fact sheet: http://http://www.njhumantrafficking.org/#!super-bowl-2014-fact-sheet/c1unm
While news articles about the issue are appearing in the press, what else can be done to combat this issue during Super Bowl week and afterward?
Holly Mathews