Super Bowl’s Dark Side
106 million viewers watched the Super Bowl last year. Although it’s a day of excitement and socializing and partying with friends, Super Bowl Sunday has a dark side that many people don’t know about or want to think about. Illegal gambling, drug and alcohol abuse and related traffic accidents, prostitution, and human trafficking have plagued the Super Bowl for years.
Super Bowl Sunday brings out some of the worst behaviors in many people. Billions of dollars are rapidly changing hands. It is estimated that nearly half of the U.S. population will bet on the game, some in Vegas, some in office pools, and some with illegal bookies.
The Super Bowl is often accompanied by heavy drinking and has been referred to by some as one of America’s drunkest days. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, on Super Bowl Sunday, alcohol-related traffic fatalities increase by 50 percent.
Prostitution is rampant. Craig’s List posts ads for females who are willing to ‘entertain’ wealthy men. Illegal drugs are widespread and drug rings are often closely tied with human trafficking and prostitution. Top stories in the New York Post in January and Atlanta NBC 11 Alive, 2019 include “33 arrested for sex trafficking in Super Bowl sting“; and “Dozens arrested for sex trafficking ahead of Super Bowl“.
CBS46 out of Atlanta reports that as tens of thousands descend on Atlanta for the big game, officials warn that the country’s largest sporting event is also a sex-trafficking event.
According to the International Human Trafficking Institute, human trafficking occurs daily in response to the market demand of customers who want to buy persons for labor or sexual exploitation. Although the Super Bowl spotlights the problem we need to remember that human trafficking occurs everywhere, every day. We must raise awareness and educate ourselves and others in order to combat a problem that is nothing short of modern day slavery occurring in our own back yards.
For more information and education on Human Trafficking in the U.S. you can sign up for our Human Trafficking: Modern Day Slavery Happening in the U.S. course.
Sign up for Human Trafficking: Modern Day Slavery Happening in the U.S.