WASHINGTON, DC. — The Woodhull Freedom Foundation, as part of its Human Rights Commissions program, has released its findings regarding oft-repeated claims that sex trafficking spikes in cities hosting the Super Bowl.
In partnership with the Sharmus Outlaw Advocacy and Rights Institute, Woodhull has concluded that “a dangerous uptick in sex trafficking is a myth, long encouraged by law enforcement, state/national governments and the media [and] has been continually disproven but continues to circulate, leading to confusion on all sides of the issue,” a rep explained.
Super Bowl LVI is set to take place on Feb. 13 in Los Angeles.
“Experts are highlighting how this debate interacts with the broader socio-political landscape, the conflation between [consensual] sex work and human trafficking and the fulfillment of sex worker rights,” noted a Woodhull rep.
Data from the newly released report shows that “while ads for sex may increase during the Super Bowl, instances of commercial sex and trafficking do not,” the rep explained.
Further, “the true victims of the ‘Super Bowl sex trafficking myth’ are human trafficking victims themselves; 80% of cases are in labor sectors outside of commercial sex,” continued the rep. Additionally, they added, “criminalization prevents those participating in commercial sex from reporting crimes committed against them for fear of arrest.”
So-called “trafficking hysteria” around the Super Bowl causes cities to increase police surveillance.
“Human trafficking is a problem that persists year-round,” the rep said, but due to the damaging conflation between adult consensual sex work and human trafficking, police use resources to arrest sex workers rather than engage in prevention.
“Increased policing has disproportionate consequences for communities with intersectioning vulnerabilities,” the Woodhull rep said. “Members of LGBTQ communities, communities of color, the unhoused and immigrants are among those disproportionately targeted by law enforcement as sex workers.”
More information can be found WoodhullFoundation.org; follow the organization on Twitter.