Super Bowl, human trafficking nightmare

Written on: January 28, 2014

Super Bowl Weekend 2014 as all eyes are trained on the Meadowlands the TV hype will be about the commercials, the half-time show, the food, the weather, local events such as Philly’s own “Wing Bowl” and coincidentally, the two teams playing football that day.

What you probably won’t hear about is the connection between large scale sporting events (multi-day extravaganzas reminiscent of the Roman Bacchanals) and the tragedy of Human Trafficking- specifically Sexual Trafficking of women and children.  Awareness about this horror has been studied closely since 2004 and laws and protocols have been developed to go after the perpetrators, alert citizens and protect victims.

Recently coalitions in the Tri-State area called over 300 motels and hotels to raise awareness on the part of their employees to know the signs to look for in guests to their facilities.  The calls were educational in nature, pointing the proprietors to education available in their area and how they could assist in combating this horror.  We are proud to say that many Grey Nuns were part of this effort in calling the motels and hotels.

If you would like to assist the effort and perhaps participate in the #HTChallenge, please visit the Challenge page

explore these additional resources:

• Statistics on Human Trafficking via The Polaris Project
• 5 Things YOU Can Do to Fight Human Trafficking via Justice Network
• 21 Ways to Help via A21

BOOKS:

• Half The Sky by Nicholas Kristof & Sheryl WuDunn
• The Locust Effect: Why the End of Poverty Requires the End of Violence by Gary Haugen
• Not for Sale by David Batstone
• The Exodus Road by Laura Parker
• Passport Through Darkness by Kimberly L. Smith
• The Slave Across The Street by Theresa Flores
• In Our Backyard by Nita Belles
• The Slave Next Door by Kevin Bales and Ron Soodalter
• Everyday Justice: The Global Impact of Our Daily Choices by Julie Clawson & Tom Sine

This entry was posted in With a Heart for Justice and tagged: #HTChallenge, Hotels, Human Trafficking, Meadowlands, motels, New Jersey, NJ, Sex Trafficking, Super Bowl