I’m not a sports fan, and this is probably because I don’t have an ounce of athleticism in my DNA. If I can’t play sports, I certainly don’t care to watch them. But I digress. For millions of people, sports are quite enjoyable. 108 million people watched the Super Bowl last year, making it the 3rd most watched television event ever. But there’s a dark side of the Super Bowl that few are talking about–human sex trafficking. Just search for “human trafficking at Super Bowl” and dozens of stories will pop up, just from the last few days.
Every Super Bowl, children are transported to the hosting cities by their pimps and are forced to have sex with sports fans. A former sex trafficking victim explains what it’s like for these young children: “When they come to these kinds of events, the first thing you’re told is how many you’re gonna perform a day,” she said Friday. “You’ve got to go through 25 men a day, or you’re going through 50 of them. When they give you that number, you better make that number.”1 She recalls being injected with heroin, tied to the bed, and being forced to watch another victim be tortured for not meeting the quota of Johns. This video is well worth the watch to see what goes on while millions of people are glued to the television in the comfort of their homes. Here is another look at what’s going on (lots of information is available on this topic):
How does this happen? Quite easily, actually. Pedophiles can easily use distractions, abuse a child, and go back to “normal life” as if nothing has ever happened. How many wives or girlfriends, not able to attend, send their husbands or boyfriends off to the Super Bowl with a blessing? Would they ever suspect that while away, they will be paying pimps to have sex with children? Not a chance, which is why it is so easy for predators to get away with it. This is magic 101–slide of hands. While one hand is occupied, the other is busy performing the magic trick.
The good news is that the NFL, local governments, the FBI, and lots of volunteers are working together at each Super Bowl to ramp up an effort to rescue these children and young adults who are being trafficked. We should pray for the thousands of children and young adults who will be moved to New Jersey in a few weeks against their will to be used as sex objects for the warped.