Hot dogs, nachos, soda, beer, beer, and more beer are things you would expect to find for sale during a Super Bowl game. Children for sale? – not so much.Yet, on February 6, when the AFC and the NFC battle it out for the right to hoist the Vince Lombardi trophy, numerous children will be trafficked for sex.
In a report from Change.org:
The trafficking of children for sale at the Super Bowl is well documented. Texas Attorney General Abbott is taking a stand and has prepared a task force to identify and respond to traffickers who plan to sell children at the Super Bowl.
…the children trafficked to DFW to meet the demand of the Super Bowl are being left to fend for themselves. According to the Dallas Police Department children exploited through sex trafficking have an average life expectancy is just seven short years. The average age a child is tricked and trapped in sexual slavery is just 13 years old. These children are beaten, brutalized and tortured for the profit and pleasure of others.
This year, the Super Bowl will be held at the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. A statewide study, Adolescent Girls in the Texas Sex Trade, released by the Dallas Women’s Foundation revealed that hundreds of underaged girls are sold for sex each month in Texas. The November numbers showed 740 cases of child sex trafficking – 250 of those cases were in the Dallas-Fort Worth area alone. Dallas-Fort Worth is considered to be a leading “hub” for the sex-trade industry.
Child advocates believe that the number of children sold for sex increases exponentially during the Super Bowl and are taking steps to prevent this from happening. Traffick911 and their I’m Not Buying It campaign is raising public awareness of child sex trafficking practices and putting pressure on the Super Bowl Host Committee to join the campaign. The Host Committee can help fund the campaign and use its sphere of influence to deter the sale of children for sex. They would join law enforcement agencies, legislators, area businesses, and other organizations in taking a proactive approach in helping to put a stop to child sex trafficking.
In the same way that no child should have to go hungry or have their health-care benefits repealed or their education defunded – no child should be commercially exploited and sold for sex. No child should be raped or beaten or brutalized. It is time to stop simply saying that children are our most precious resource and start proving it. The cries of children should be clearly heard over the hoots and hollers of thousands of football fans.
Please add your name and support the petition demanding that the Super Bowl Host Committee join efforts to stop child trafficking during the sporting event and beyond.
We can hide our heads in the sand and pretend that this sort of thing doesn’t happen….or help to do something about it. Sign the petition people!!
I agree. This dirty little secret must be brought out into the light. You can’t turn your back on the suffering and exploitation of children for the sake of a sporting event — no matter how much money is involved in professional football. It could be your daughter. Sign the petition.