How to Prevent Human Trafficking at This Year’s Super Bowl

Super Bowl Sunday is just around the corner. When you think of the Super Bowl, images of drinking beer, delicious chicken wings, and the infamous Super Bowl ads might come to mind. Super Bowl Sunday is intended to be a day of watching football and eating great food with your friends and family. Because of this, most people don’t stop to think about the spike in sex trafficking that accompanies the Super Bowl season. For those of you not familiar with this issue, we are going to take a closer look at the dark side of the Super Bowl, and what you can do to help prevent it. These tips work for those who live in the hosting city or who might be attending as well.

Report Suspicious Activity

If you are going to be attending this year, it’s important that you can identify the signs of a potential trafficking situation. Many of these scenarios can appear in plain sight. Which means it’s up to you to say something to stop it. If you see any suspicious activity, it’s important to report it to local authorities. If you aren’t sure, report it. Above all, it’s better to inconvenience someone for a few minutes of their day than to ignore it and cost someone their freedom for life.

Human Trafficking “Red Flags” for the General Public has great information about how to identify victims. They also have questions to ask yourself if you think someone near you might be affected by trafficking.

Here are a few questions to help you determine if someone might be a victim of human trafficking:

1. Are they being forced to do something they don’t want to do?
2. Can they leave their workplace freely?
3. Are there signs of physical or sexual abuse?
4. Has this person been threatened?
5. Does this person have any personal identification documents? Were they taken away?
6. Are they being paid for their work or services?
7. How many hours does this person work per day?
8. How did this person find out about the job?
9. Do they have to ask for permission to eat, sleep, or go to the bathroom?
10. Where do they sleep/eat?
11. Is there a lock on their door or windows so they are unable to leave?

Know the Signs of Human Trafficking

It’s not just important to be able to recognize the signs of human trafficking, but we also need to be able to actively identify them in a public setting.
While you’re attending the Super Bowl, here are a few different signs you should look for that could be sign of human trafficking:

• Multiple women accompanied or being controlled by a single man, especially if they’re entering from outside the local area.
• In hotels, seeing someone carry large amounts of cash, motel keys, or multiple cell phones
• The person shows signs of assault or poor personal hygiene
• The person shows fearful or anxious behavior when near law enforcement

To request help or report suspected human trafficking, call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888 or text “help” to BeFree (233733).

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