The Super Bowl is one of the biggest sporting events of the year. Around 900 million people around the world watch the game, and the revenue generated is over 650 million dollars. In Germany, too, more and more people are getting excited about American football and watch the game and the legendary halftime show. However, there are many rumors surrounding the connection between the Super Bowl and forced prostitution. That’s why we ask ourselves what the Super Bowl has to do with forced prostitution.
Many claim that the Super Bowl is the biggest human trafficking and forced prostitution event of the year. The important thing to understand is that human trafficking and forced prostitution happen every single day of the year.
Big headlines and rumors always sell better, of course, but they do nothing to improve the situation or the credibility of those actually affected.
Even if the total number of forced prostitutes does not necessarily increase on these days, you can still see the clear correlations. Major sporting events such as the Super Bowl attract masses of tourists, including many men. The exuberant atmosphere, excessive alcohol consumption and groups of men who want to have “fun” cause the demand for sex for sale to rise.
Human traffickers and pimps see this as a very lucrative business and so many women and children are brought to the venue. The fans are often in the city before the actual match, so you can see how the situation changes. The city gets in the mood with parties and events around the Super Bowl and activity also increases on the streets, in strip clubs and on advertising and escort sites.
This phenomenon can also be observed at trade fairs and political or business meetings.
Many organizations, as well as the police and FBI, have been on alert for years and are conducting awareness campaigns and raids.
There is a lot of money to be made in the sex industry, especially with minors. Children and young people fall into the clutches of pimps or are sold through their own parents. The following article shows that this is also the sad reality around the Super Bowl
One of our employees was at the Super Bowl in Miami in 2020 and reports:
“I was able to be in Miami with the NGO ”Exodus Cry” and many other organizations from the USA a week before the Super Bowl 2020. The aim was to reach women in forced prostitution and educate tourists and visitors. To this end, there were numerous outreach activities every day. We started with “online outreach” weeks in advance. We tried to establish contact with the women offered on online portals. We were actually able to arrange meetings with them on site in Miami. Some returned to forced prostitution out of fear, but we were able to place others in a shelter and then refer them to exit counseling.
Thanks to donations, we had fresh roses and high-quality cosmetics every day, which we were able to give away to the women in the neighborhood. We visited brothels masquerading as massage parlors, strip clubs and street prostitution. We met women from various countries including South America, South East Asia, the USA and Russia. Each mission showed us anew the harrowing reality of forced prostitution. We spoke to women who took drugs to survive prostitution. We saw minors who could not accept offers of help for fear of the pimp and we saw women who were under the control of madames and did not even dare to talk to us.
We also spoke to visitors to make them aware of human trafficking and forced prostitution. A team of men had conversations with sex buyers to talk to them about their actions.”
In 2024, we are looking ahead to the European Football Championship in Germany. Matches will be played in 10 cities. Looking at the sex buying behavior of men at major events, it can be assumed that similar developments will occur in Germany.
We therefore want to pay more attention to the development of demand in the coming months, educate the public and work with local street work teams in the cities.
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