Keeping traffickers away from the Super Bowl

Heather Sells

When I started working at CBN in 2005, human trafficking was a little-known term. In the last 10 years—its existence has stirred the hearts of many believers. First, we began to understand it as a tragedy overseas—and then we began to understand it as a tragedy in our own backyards.

One reason it’s difficult to understand the depth and breadth of trafficking is that numbers are hard to come by. The non-profit Shared Hope International estimates that at least 100,000 American children are exploited each year through prostitution or pornography. That’s just an estimate, however.

Equally challenging; the lack of research on how to care for trafficking victims. Their trauma has been compared to PTSD, yet there’s not a lot known about how to effectively treat them when they come off the streets. What we do know: it’s difficult to help them change once they’ve had to learn how to live with a pimp controlling their every move.

Amidst all the obstacles, there’s a ray of hope this week. It’s a bit of research focusing on sex trafficking at the 2014 Super Bowl. Dr. Dominique Roe-Sepowitz, Director of the Office of Sex Trafficking Intervention Research at Arizona State University, studied the online commercial sex ads posted in the northern New Jersey region preceding last year’s Super Bowl.  In the months leading up to the big game, the volume of ads declined.

Since the big day, the ads are increasing again. Roe-Sepowitz and her colleagues credit increased law enforcement before the game. The bad news (from my view): traffickers are smart—they won’t go places where there’s a good chance that they and their victims will get in trouble. The good news: it’s possible to deter them if we make ending the sale of children a national priority.

To see my interview with Dr. Roe-Sepowitz, watch here: