[R EJEC T A PAT H Y ]
SUSTAINABLE CHANGE. SACRIFICIAL LIVING.
THE SUPER BOWL OF SEX TRADE
The football event of the year offers a marketing opportunity like none other for advertisers and host city businesses—but also for traffickers.
etween the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, a four-day entertainment lineup and a halftime performance by Beyoncé Knowles, New Orleans is gearing up to put on a world-class show for Super Bowl XLVII. But out from under the lights, the Super Bowl is considered the largest annual sex trafficking event in the United States. Its predominantly male crowds, influx of money and party atmosphere converge to drive supply and demand for women. In anticipation of this Super Bowl reality, local law enforcement is taking preventative measures. This year, Louisiana
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upped its state trafficking law to criminalize the promotion or sale of travel for commercial sex and sharpened its penalties for traffickers where minors are involved. Citizens are also getting involved. In October, Loyola University New Orleans hosted a prevention conference in partnership with over 25 organizations to equip citizens to responsibly identify and report incidents of human trafficking. With the combined efforts of concerned citizens and local law enforcement, perhaps “The City That Care Forgot” will set an example for future Super Bowl hosts by demonstrating what it really means to care.
T R A F F I C K I N G
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13
10,000
Annual profits, in billions, of
Average age at which girls enter
Estimated number of sex workers
Department of Justice
sex trafficking in the U.S.
forced prostitution in the U.S.
at previous Super Bowl games.
and Reuters.com.
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United Nations, the United States
R E L E VA N T M A G A Z I N E . C O M
$9.5
* Sourced from the