Last year at this time, I wrote an article titled Sex Trafficking: Super Bowl’s Underbelly Exposed for the New Agenda organization. This year, I would like to simply compile a list of online discussion that addresses the issue. It’s interesting that this huge venue — a man’s sport — brings to life the most denigrating aspect of humanity — the sale and purchase of human sex. I know most of us are not affected on a personal level by sex trafficking, but what many of us don’t know is that these are not prostitutes — they are girls as young as 6 and as old as 18; they are often raped prior to being sold; this way they can’t even go home because there is this sense of shame. They are beaten when they try to flee; and they are drugged to make them more pliable. The Super Bowl, because of its size, brings the pimps and their stolen merchandise from all over the states. And the reason we don’t hear as much about it is because it is completely underground. These girls aren’t placed on the streets. They are hidden and handcuffed and drugged and raped in seedy hotel rooms, in rented apartments, and where the cops are not looking for them. It’s a sick business, and even more sick are the clients who climb on top of them knowing they shouldn’t. Over 300,000 children are sex trafficked annually.
Here’s a news clip on sex trafficking in Indianapolis — TODAY:
I’m not rooting for any team — they’re all men and this game, with all the money it brings in, is a business. It is a business that knows exactly how it enables the selling and distribution of young girls in the sex trade. The guys who make a living chasing balls know it; their managers know it; their customers know it. And they look the other way. I am looking the other way as well; I’m looking at the girls who suffer at the hands of the privileged sex — the ones who make money from playing games as if they were still children and the ones who think they are entitled to selling and usurping the flesh of innocents.
On that note, here are some articles I rounded up on sex trafficking during the super bowl:
- The Washington Post just published a piece by Ann Oestrich, a nun, who defines sex trafficking and discusses how 11 congregations of Catholic women are banding their resources to end trafficking in Indianapolis, this year’s super bowl city-host. These women are contacting all the hotels in the area and pushing for the training of employees to recognize the trade and to report it.
- Forbes’ Meghan Casserly brings to our attention over 1,000 Backpage.com advertisements that sell girls in the Indianapolis area just for the Super Bowl. Indianapolis was assigned a grade of “D” by an anti-trafficking organization for its poor “conditions and laws surrounding child sex trafficking, looking at whether a child is treated as a victim or criminal in the legal system as well as how both buyers and sellers of young girls are categorized and prosecuted.”
- This Indianapolis article alerts us that the LPD is informing hotel employees for signs of trafficking and they have put in place a federal training program for LPD officers in regards to identifying and capturing sex trafficking in the area during the Super Bowl.
- Here & Now gives us a short clip on how Indianapolis lawmakers are trying to end trafficking in their area.
- Finally, Resurgence just posted a clear and well written piece on Sex Trafficking during the Super Bowl. It’s worth the read and share.
- I can’t talk about sex trafficking without bringing in The Polaris Project, which is a great resource on the subject — all year round — not just on Super Bowl Sunday.
- Finally, a big thanks to Indiana Governor who passed Anti sex trafficking bill SB4 just for the Super Bowl. According to The Polaris Project, Bill SB4 “makes it easier to prosecute a trafficker who intentionally “recruits, harbors, or transports” someone when forcing them into participating in sexual conduct. In addition, when children under sixteen have been caught in commercial sex, the law will now accurately recognize them as sex trafficking victims, regardless of force, fraud or coercion.”
If you have found any interesting articles published this year, please post them in the comment section.
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