The Super Bowl coming to New Jersey in February is cause for excitement in the sports and business communities.
But it’s also cause for concern among local human rights activists, who fear the game will bring a spike in human trafficking.
What does that mean? The New Jersey Coalition Against Human Trafficking will explain at a daylong rally on the Morristown Green on Sunday, Oct. 27, 2013.
Morristown Mayor Tim Dougherty, area church leaders, activists and students are scheduled to speak, between 9:30 am and 6:30 pm.
“Lest you think that Morris County is clear of this, we’re learning more and more from the Prosecutor that human trafficking is in Morris County,” coalition member Sue Rosenthal told the Morristown council on Tuesday.
Human trafficking is a modern form of slavery, involving “the use of force, fraud and/or coercion for the purpose of sexual exploitation or forced labor,” according to the coalition, which ranks it second only to drug dealing and equal in scope to arms dealing among criminal industries.
Some 600,000 to 800,000 people are trafficked in the U.S. every year, estimates the State Department. Because New Jersey is a transportation and shipping hub, it’s considered a prime location for this crime, the coalition maintains.
Men, women and children are victims. They are forced into sex services and labor as maids, nannies, construction- and restaurant workers, and janitorial- and salon workers. Many speak little or no English and don’t know how to get help. More than half of victims worldwide are believed to be under 18.
A 95 percent increase in human trafficking cases was recorded during the 2004 Olympics in Greece. In 2011, Traffick911 and law enforcement reported that escort ads in Backpage.com jumped from 135 in mid-January to 367 on the day before the Super Bowl in Indianapolis.
Sue asked officials and the public to remain vigilant and to report any suspected human trafficking to 1-888-373-7888, or text “BeFree” or 233733.
