Aaron Cline Hanbury – The Super Bowl (as in the football game coming up this Sunday) is the largest, most-watched single-day sporting event in the world. Given that the Atlanta Falcons haven’t made it to the Super Bowl since 2010, their game against the Patriots on Sunday might just be one of the most tuned into yet.

What lies beyond the public eye is the darker side of Super Bowl weekend. Back in 2013, the idea started to circulate that Super Bowl week might also be the occasion for the highest volume of sex trafficking of the whole year, too. Lately, however, that claim has come into question. Still, no one is questioning the fact that Super Bowl—perhaps like other big events where men are present—sex trafficking is a massive problem. Check the headlines of any of the more recent games and you’ll see significant efforts by host cities to curb the issue.

The Reality

“I would not go along with some of the myths that have been floated out there like that there are tens of thousands of victims brought to the Super Bowl or that it’s the largest human trafficking event,” says Nita Belles, managing director of anti-trafficking nonprofit In Our Backyardand author of In Our Backyard: Human Trafficking in America and What We Can Do to Stop It. Continue reading →