The Super Bowl could be considered a national holiday for all the hype it receives throughout the year. Pro football players work hard in the off season to prepare to play their hardest over the season, to play in that game. Companies spend millions, maybe even billions of dollars, on commercials to be able to say that they advertised during one of the most watched events on television. I honestly believe I may be the only American who doesn't watch the Super Bowl. I think I can count on one finger the number of times I have sat through the entire thing, and I think it was because I was more focused on studying for an exam I had later in the week.

It's not because I'm a woman. It's not because I hate football (which I do). It's not because I don't understand football (even though I don't). It's because the Super Bowl has one secret that I cannot ignore: It, like many other popular sporting events, is one of the biggest stops on the sex traffic trade.

I know that might not make sense, but if one thinks about it, it makes total sense. I would imagine that going to the Super Bowl is a once in a lifetime opportunity. There's drinking, there's emotion, there's adrenaline. I'm not trying to justify anything, but merely shed light on an issue people seem to have forgotten existed. Pimps know that this happens, and so they bring their "workers" in to go and make them money. Reports have found that women expect to sleep with anywhere from 25 to 50 men just in Super Bowl week alone. If the victims don't meet the expected quota? The possible results are too awful to even attempt to comprehend.

Not to sound self righteous, but I am not going to sit there and watch an event where women are forced to sleep with men, and vice versa. I watch about five minutes of the game to "feel American," but then I think of all of the statistics I have read in the past about this very issue, and I start feeling sick to my stomach. I can't even enjoy the ads. I mean, that's what YouTube is for on Monday morning, isn't it?

The one bright spot is that this idea of forced prostitution at the Super Bowl isn't new. Officials in Houston, and local businesses are preparing themselves for this unspeakable horror. Reports have said that the police crack down on as many as 22 cases a day during Super Bowl week. While this is all fine and dandy, it doesn't change the fact that sex trafficking is a real issue for tens of thousands of men, women, and children, and needs to be stopped. Not watching the Super Bowl may seem trivial, but as a broke college student, it's about all I can do.

Feel like you can do more? Human Trafficking Awareness Partners has some amazing resources.