Billboards remind visiting MLB fans: Buying sex is not a victimless crime

It’s an uncomfortable reality that major sporting events also attract well-to-do men with the ability to purchase marginalized women and girls for sex.

While this is a disturbing issue year-round, it can happen in a particularly concentrated manner during March Madness, the World Cup, the Super Bowl, etc.

Billboards call out sex buyers to warn them against committing crimes

With this All-Star Game, we’re drawing attention to the dark underbelly of sex trafficking — where people are exploited amidst all the excitement. Over the next few weeks while driving through Atlanta, you might see some of our billboards that read: “Sex Buying Is A Serious Error,” “Buying Sex Is A Dangerous Play,” “Buying Sex Will Get You Caught” and “Sex Buying Will Get You Tossed.”

Credit: Bethany Bandera

Credit: Bethany Bandera

These messages are provocative, but our goal is unambiguous. We’re shining a spotlight on the often invisible sex buyer – without whom there’d be no sex trafficking. We want people to understand this isn’t harmless behavior, but one causing lifelong physical and psychological trauma.

To be clear, sex trafficking and exploitation occur all year-round. Traffickers don’t simply disappear once the players head back to their respective teams for the rest of the season.

But we also know that with the All-Star Game, markets for hotels, rideshares and delivery services will spike in Atlanta and the surrounding area given the increase in tourism; and so, too, can the commercial sex market. Traffickers will always seek to capitalize off this potential for increased demand for paid sex.

Simply put, if there were no buyers, there would be no business. Without these men, there’d be no traffickers selling the most endangered among us. But for the demand created by buyers, there’d be no incentive for traffickers to coerce and manipulate vulnerable people.

Authorities have arrested people on trafficking charges at past sporting events

Some like to pretend buying sex is a victimless crime. It’s not. Sex buying fuels violence, addiction and trauma — both physical and emotional. It funds organized crime.

And the victims — often Black and brown girls from disadvantaged communities — pay the price.

Atlanta is an amazing city. It’s also a known trafficking hub due to being home to the world’s busiest airport and major highways like I-85 and I-75.

As Naeshia McDowell, director of strategic partnerships at the Children’s Advocacy Centers of Georgia, puts it, “Atlanta is the premier entertainment hub of the Southeast. While we’re proud of our rich culture, thriving economy and ability to host world-class events, we must also recognize that these same attributes can attract traffickers and sex buyers seeking to exploit our most vulnerable community members.”

The numbers bear this out.

In fact, in 2019, right here in Atlanta, dozens were arrested in the ramp-up to the Super Bowl — including 26 accused traffickers and 34 men charged with trying to engage in children for sex. Nine trafficking victims were identified, and nine child sex trafficking victims were recovered, with the youngest being only 14.

That same year, at the MLB All-Star Game in Cleveland, 49 people were arrested during a crackdown on human traffickers and sex buyers, with 28 facing charges for seeking sex with children. And earlier this year, eight sex trafficking victims were recovered during the NCAA Final Four in San Antonio.

These aren’t anomalies. They’re patterns surrounding major sporting events.

Ultimately, the All-Star Game provides the opportunity to bring much-needed attention to what’s fueling this multi-billion-dollar industry.

Recently, we released “Buyers Unmasked: Exposing the Men Who Buy Sex & Solutions to End Exploitation.” This report lifts the veil on the men paying for sexual acts and highlights the damage they cause women and girls. I invite you to read through and see what buyers think and feel about the people they purchase in their own words.

While most fans are here for the love of baseball, traffickers are pouncing on the moment. But whether it’s during a major sports event, or just on a regular weekday, vulnerable women and girls are being bought, sold and exploited for profit.

Let’s use this chance to focus on the problem and prioritize real solutions. We hope these billboards make the public take notice, spark conversation and ultimately understand that when people buy sex, they’re harming real people.

Yasmin Vafa leads Rights4Girls — a national human rights organization that advocates for the rights of young women and girls, so that every girl can be safe and live a life free of violence and exploitation.