UPDATED: 05/27/20 9 a.m.
As Tampa prepares to host its sixth SuperBowl in February, Hillsborough County’s newly formed Commission on Human Trafficking is also arranging its efforts to help mitigate the anticipated spike in human trafficking that often coincides with large events.
Led by County Commissioner Kimberly Overman, the group met virtually Tuesday to review the anti-sex trafficking efforts used in Miami at Superbowl LIV this year, which largely included public relations outreach, like billboards that advertise a hotline for witnesses to report sex trafficking.
At Miami’s Superbowl, calls reporting sex trafficking were up 163%, and eight buyers of sex tracking and 34 accomplihses were arrested.
While most members of the new committee expressed excitement to work with the NFL, one member, Jennifer Glaister of Redefining Refuge, a local nonprofit that fights for women, voiced her concerns.
“I think it's extremely important that this commission not turn a blind eye to the fact that the NFL, in the past for a long period of time, turned a blind eye to violence against women, and violence against children, and things of that nature,” Glaister said. “I've seen nothing but really good changes lately, but I just always want to be aware of who we're aligning ourselves with.”
Events like the SuperBowl cause a spike in sex trafficking simply because of supply and demand, Elizabeth Melendez Fisher Good, co-founder of Selah Freedom, the nation's leading anti-sex trafficking organization, told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay.
“The Superbowl is always going to be synonymous with sex trafficking,” Fisher Good added. “Anything that is bringing a bunch of men together is going to be bringing in more victims because people are going to be purchasing.”
Each sex trafficking victim is sold, on average, between 15-40 times a day, and their ages usually range between 15 and 18, according to Fisher Good.
“Anytime there’s any sort of destination event like that, people bring in what we used to call escorts or prostitutes, and they’re underage, brought in against their will,” Fisher Good told CL. “All of the awareness, it’s helping people. We’re starting to see a shift in culture but we have a long way to go.”After Hillsborough County’s Commission on Human Trafficking finalizes its plans, they will be sent to the NFL for approval, and the NFL should then provide a funding grant to implement the plan.
The new commission was formed in December, precipitating two huge events often correlated with increases in sex trafficking: Suberbowl LV and World Wrestling Entertainment’s WrestleMania 2020 (which Gov. Ron DeSantis won’t shut up about) in April.
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This article appears in May 21-27, 2020.