(The Center Square) – As Seattle prepares to host FIFA World Cup matches, familiar warnings about human trafficking at major sporting events are in the news.
Advocacy groups have rolled out awareness campaigns and media outlets have reported that the risk is elevated during international events.
While experts caution against assuming large sporting events directly lead to increases in trafficking, the influx of visitors, temporary workers and hospitality activity can create opportunities for exploitation, according to an Oakland doctor who spoke Wednesday with The Center Square.
“There is an uptick of trafficking around large national and international sporting events. We saw it in the Super Bowl that was here in the Bay Area,” said Dr. Aisha Mays, who provides no cost medical services to vulnerable youth in the Bay Area through the organization she founded called Dream Youth Clinic.
“We know that with these large events, it is entertainment. And what comes with large entertainment is the sex trade,” said Mays.
As reported by The Center Square, hundreds of frustrated residents and neighbors marched along North Seattle’s Aurora Avenue for a demonstration last Saturday night. Organizers called the event “Stop the Traffickers, Stop the Bullets.”
Frustrated by persistent sex trafficking and escalating gun battles, people demanded immediate action from the city to curb the violence and criminal activity, as the city prepares to host the World Cup.
Research shows that while some major sporting events correspond with increases in advertisements for commercial sex, those increases may not be unique to the event or evidence that the risk is greater during those events.
The Polaris Project, a non-profit dedicated to eradicating modern-day sex and labor trafficking in North America, noted concerns about inflating the risk of increased sex trafficking during major sporting events.
“A narrative emerged several years ago that women and girls were being forced into commercial sex at the Super Bowl in unprecedented numbers. But human trafficking isn’t just a problem the night of the Super Bowl, it’s a problem 365 days a year – and towns and cities across the entire country require long-term solutions to respond to this crime.”
“Human trafficking is a multi-billion dollar industry where perpetrators profit from the control and exploitation of others. It is found during the Super Bowl, but it is also found at motorcycle rallies in South Dakota, in the fields of Florida, in gangs in California, and in brothels in Washington, D.C,” noted Polaris.
Dr. Mays told The Center Square she hopes greater attention to the issue will bring an awareness and desire for people to pay attention to what is happening in their own communities.
“We see things that may seem concerning, and our intuition is telling us something, but we don’t want to think about it. We don’t want to see it. And that is a very strong driver of trafficking. People are not wanting to see and look away when they actually see something concerning right in front of them.”
Mays said those who suspect someone is being trafficked should call local law enforcement but also make a report with the National Human Trafficking Hotline.
“It will take all of us as citizens, as professionals, as educators to do something about human trafficking,” said Mays.
According to the National Human Trafficking Hotline, 659 calls were received from Washington state in 2024, the most recent year for complete data. 441 victims were identified from those reports. The vast majority of those victims were female.
Illicit massage and spa businesses, hotel and motel work and street work topped the list for sex trade venues reported to the hotline.