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Super Bowl Sex Trafficking a Growing Concern

CBN

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As Super Bowl Sunday gets closer, there is growing concern about the potential increase in human trafficking in the host city. The event is expceted to draw a huge influx of people to Phoenix, Arizona this weekend.

During the weeks surrounding the Super Bowl, more than 300 people have been arrested for human trafficking-related charges in the host cities since 2011.

recent study by Arizona State University looked into the impact the Super Bowl has on human trafficking in the host cities.

Dr. Dominique Roe-Sepowitz, one of the researchers on the project, told CBN News that there are consistently a high rate of sex ads and responses to those ads. But they have not seen a huge influx in those numbers surrounding the Super Bowl.

CBN News reporter Heather Sells spoke with Dr. Roe-Sepowitz, an associate professor of social work at Arizona State. Roe-Sepowitz said traffickers will leave the area during the Super Bowl. **Watch the full interview above.

"The Super Bowl has really sent a message, the NFL has really sent a message, our community has sent a message, that sex trafficking will not be tolerated here and prostitution won't be tolerated in our community," Roe-Sepowitz said.

CBN News also spoke to Kathleen Winn, who recently served as the point person for human trafficking cases in the Arizona attorney general's office.

To learn more about Arizona's efforts to combat Super Bowl sex trafficking, watch Kathleen Winn's full interview below:

"Four years ago you would have been hard-pressed to find somebody in Arizona who'd heard about trafficking or really believed that it was happening here or happening to U.S. children," Winn said.

Now, thanks to help from faith-based organizations, local community groups, and law enforcement, Winn said they were able to enlighten more than 50,000 people through public seminars on how to recognize signs of underage sex trafficking and other criminal activity that comes along with hosting an event like the Super Bowl.

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