I don’t often go into the macabre. I don’t even watch Law & Order. Thinking about monstrous people is not something I enjoy. I understand the obsession with true crime, but podcasts that tell stories of sex trafficking, torture, murder, and rape are the last thing I associate with relaxation.
There’s a place to talk about crazy shit, and usually sports, isn’t there. Tell a story about human trafficking at the Super Bowl during the run to The Big Game and see how many people fidget around until they can talk back about the receiver’s games widely.
Recently stories outside the Southwest caught my attention because the title was so alarming and attention-grabbing, and I thought, damn it, this is the right time to bring attention to a bad side of our world. ta.
A Texas family has reunited with their 15-year-old daughter after she left her seat to use the restroom during a game of Mavs and never came back. The girl was identified – with the help of Houston-based human trafficking rather than law enforcement – 200 miles away as part of a sex trafficking ring.
The girl’s father notified the in-game police, who told him to call the police department where he lives in the North Richland Hills. They told him they couldn’t help because of what happened in Dallas, according to the story.
Reports of missing persons were filed and time passed. The family were not satisfied and contacted the Texas Anti-Trafficking Initiative, which found a nude photo of the girl was used for online sex advertising via facial recognition software. present and notify the Oklahoma City Police. The police later found the teenager and arrested eight people in connection with the case.
It was torture, and thank god the girl was safe. Hopefully she doesn’t have irreversible scarring. Things don’t always turn out for the better, and there probably wouldn’t be a story if she was still missing.
Zeke Fortenberry, an attorney for the girl’s family, said the parents have sent letters to multiple parties involved in the case – American Airlines Arena, the Mavericks, Dallas police, and the Oklahoma City hotel where the girl was found – to See how they can prevent the terrible situation. Regarding the publication of this story, the family has yet to receive a response, and Fortenberry said he hopes to receive a response soon so the matter can be resolved without litigation.
Trafficking in sports and sex
I’ll just summarize a few statistics on human trafficking while you’re here, because the numbers are startling/horrible and need to be acknowledged.
One Report 2017 discovered that there are nearly 25 million people trapped in human trafficking, or human slavery. It’s a $150 billion a year business, and although only 19% of victims are trafficked for sex, 66% of global profits come from sexual exploitation.
While situations like the one in Dallas can happen, those are the exceptions, by Project Polaris, a group dedicated to helping victims of human trafficking and educating the public. Often, victims come from vulnerable, exploitable situations, not Liam Neeson’s. Take-Like kidnapping.
There have also been many articles examining the relationship between major sporting events and human trafficking. One ESPN section from 2019 says that although it is not documented, the Super Bowl is the largest sex trafficking event in the world.
However, a Washington Post article before this year’s Super Bowl interviewed sex workers who said that the notion of sex trafficking at the Super Bowl led to the arrest of sex workers, not traffickers. One Study, research found that trade did not increase during those periods.
A weekday crackdown of this year’s Super Bowl in LA rescue more than 80 victimsHow the hell do you know the truth? However, I think we can agree that regardless of what caused the sting, it’s great that people’s lives were saved.
Titles like the one at the top of this article earn clicks and shares because it’s a horrifying story. That might be good content for a podcast, but in reality, human trafficking seems fundamentally harder to combat than what Neeson does.
Thank God the girl was located and reunited with her family. Hopefully her story will bring some good, help raise awareness and help the victims return to the waiting arms of their loved ones.
