“While most Americans are going to be getting prepared for the Seahawks and the Patriots to tee off in the Super Bowl, the dirty little secret is that the Super Bowl actually is one of the highest levels of human sex trafficking activity of any event in the country. And in, for example, Dallas in 2011, we saw a 300 percent increase in ads for sex, sexual acts related to human trafficking.”

–Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.), news conference, Jan. 27, 2015

“The Super Bowl has become one of the largest venues for sex trafficking in the country. A study of online escort ads at the 2011 Super Bowl in Dallas found that ads increased almost 300 percent from a Saturday in mid-January to the Saturday before the Super Bowl.”

–Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), news release, Jan. 17, 2014

There is a lot of frenzy every year over the Super Bowl — the team, fans, halftime show and commercials. And every year, there is an alarming message that the Super Bowl draws record levels of sex trafficking activity to the host city, as droves of sex slaves are supposedly sold to meet the increased demand.

Klobuchar was in the forefront of this message in 2014, citing a 300-percent increase. Cornyn this year cited the same, exact figure again, and is reviving the focus on heightened sex trafficking activity at large events like the Super Bowl. There are efforts in both chambers to pass anti-trafficking bills.

Is there record-high sex trafficking activity at the Super Bowl, and did escort ads spike by 300 percent leading up to 2011 Dallas Super Bowl?

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