New March Madness-themed billboard in Atlanta aims to deter sex buyers, reduce trafficking
Anti-trafficking campaign focuses on March Madness
Rights4Girls, a human rights group, has brought an anti-sex trafficking billboard campaign to Atlanta where NCAA March Madness games will be held this week. They say large sports events in big cities like this one tend to create a demand for the dark industry.
ATLANTA - A new nationwide billboard campaign to raise awareness of sex trafficking and discourage buyers fueling the trade has come to Atlanta.
What we know:
The messages, displayed in rotation on a billboard on Marietta Street near Ivan Allen Jr. Blvd, are phrased to coincide with the NCAA March Madness tournament.
With messages including: "It’s Madness to think sex buying isn’t a violation," and "It’s Madness to think sex buying is a victimless crime."
Atlanta is hosting the South Regional game of the tournament.
The group behind the billboards, Rights4Girls says it believes major sporting events can increase the demand for sex trafficking in cities.
"Any time there are large numbers of individuals that flock to one city, we know that sex traffickers will seek to take advantage of the potential for increased demand for commercial sex," said Yasmin Vafa, the co-founder and executive director of Rights4Girls.
Vafa describes Rights4Girls as a "national human rights organization that works to defend the rights of marginalized young women and girls throughout the United States."
Targeting sex buyers during March Madness
Dig deeper:
Vafa said often, enforcement and awareness campaigns focus on the traffickers, but she says this campaign is focused on the buyers.
"Without these buyers creating the demand, there would be no business, there would be no traffickers marketing and exploiting these individuals," Vafa said.
Vafa says even if sex buyers aren’t trying to exploit minors, they may be doing it inadvertently.
"It's very difficult sometimes for buyers to discern whether the people they're soliciting are consenting or not are of age or not," she said.
Vafa says buyers in many cases are supporting traffickers who severely abuse the women and girls they’re offering.
"With the survivors we work with, we know that it can have a devastating and lifelong consequence, both physically and psychologically," Vafa said.
She also says sex buyers need to be aware of how risky this is.
It’s illegal under Georgia law to solicit sex.
What you can do:
To learn more about the insidious impacts of sex trafficking and about misconceptions about sex buyers, Vafa encourages people to check out their latest report on sex solicitation.
If you need help or know someone who is being sex trafficked, you can contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline in one of the following ways:
- Phone: 1-888-373-7888
- TTY: 711
- Text: 233733
The Source: Information for this story was provided by Rights4Girls and from the National Human Trafficking Hotline.