HUMAN TRAFFICKING CONCERNS ARE SUPER BOWL’S DARK UNDERBELLY

The Freedom Summit, an anti-human trafficking event, is being put on by the Bay Area Anti-Trafficking Coalition in Santa Clara at Levi's Stadium on Saturday

By Ann Killion

San Francisco Chronicle
January 30, 2016

This week will be a collision of two dark secrets.

The Bay Area is one of the nation’s largest hubs for human trafficking. And the Super Bowl is an event that is a hotbed for human trafficking.

That dark underbelly of America’s biggest sporting event is in sharp contrast with the parties and celebrities, the glamour and fun that are the usual trappings of the Super Bowl.

“You can be a sports fan but not turn a blind eye to the some of the worst things going on around a sporting event,” said Betty Ann Boeving, the executive director and founder of the Bay Area Anti-Trafficking Coalition.

Boeving has been frustrated in recent days by published reports that throw doubt onto the premise that the Super Bowl generates a significant uptick in human trafficking. Some of those reports rely on anecdotal evidence of professional sex workers.

“I don’t know who they’re trying to defend,” Boeving said. “Less than 10 percent of the sex industry is represented by those choosing to sell themselves. Most are being forced against their will. Many are underage girls. This is the business of rape for profit.”

Bay Area a hub

It is hard to get quantifiable statistics to measure an industry that is very mobile and hidden. One of the reasons the Bay Area is a hub is that it has three international airports and a major port: Trafficked victims can be moved through quickly.

The Super Bowl is similar to other large events that bring in a mostly male, cash-rich clientele with the desire to party. Trade shows and conventions bring in a similar group. And Super Bowl week, with its festivities, is one of the biggest, most bloated conventions in the world.

“High-profile special events which draw large crowds become lucrative opportunities for sex trafficking and criminal activity,” said Michele Ernst, a spokesperson for the FBI. “It’s market and demand.”

The FBI will open a Human Trafficking Operation Center on Monday in conjunction with the start of Super Bowl week. A trial run for the program in October resulted in six children being rescued in the Bay Area. The youngest victim was 12 years old.

“This goes on in our neighborhoods 365 days a year,” Boeving said. “The Super Bowl is a catalytic event with a global spotlight that can put more eyes on this issue.”

Last week, an underage girl walked into San Francisco’s Mission Station and reported to police that she had been kidnapped and forced into prostitution. Three adults were arrested on charges that included human trafficking. Last summer, a couple in Danville were arrested for running a prostitution ring, using multiple trafficking victims between the ages of 18 and 25.

Those are just some of the incidents that occur in our community. In August, San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee’s Task Force on Human Trafficking reported that 291 victims of human trafficking were helped in the final six months of 2014. The majority were young women.

Online element

Boeving points out that most of the business of prostitution is done online. At past Super Bowls, online ads for sex sales spiked dramatically right before the game.

Boeving wishes that more athletes would speak up about the exploitation that takes place around major sporting events. Former Giants pitcher Jeremy Affeldt is one of the few who has adopted the cause. He works with the group Not For Sale, and has been a vocal advocate and fundraiser on the issue of human slavery.

“It’s a huge deal,” Affeldt said last season. “The stories are horrifying.”

Law enforcement agencies and nonprofits from around the Bay Area have spent significant energy in recent months working to raise awareness on the issue. The Freedom Summit, held in May at Levi’s Stadium, also elevated the issue. The National Trafficking Hotline is (888) 373-7888.

“We are using this as a flashpoint,” Boeving said. “To put the community’s eyes and ears on this. To let potential buyers know we are watching you.”

The Super Bowl isn’t only a fun time. It also can hold a very dark secret.

EDITOR’S NOTE: What secret? At least not for Law Enforcement. It is well known that major sporting events – and the Super Bowl is the most major of all – attract prostitutes in droves. With many ‘Stupid’ Bowl tickets costing several thousand dollars, the buyers of those tickets can well afford to spend an hour or so with a lady of the evening, and the prostitutes and their handlers well know it.

I remember there were always prostitutes working the golf tournaments in the Palm Springs area. They would be brought to the golf clubs in limousines. The limos had dark curtains covering the rear windows and the prostitutes would turn their tricks inside those cars. And from my vantage point, there was never a time when those limos weren’t rocking and rolling.