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Simon Munn

Professor Fielding

WRTC 103

11 February 2017

Do Public Events Increase the Risk of Sex Trafficking?

Every year sex traffickers move hundreds of thousands of people across national

borders in a form of modern day slavery. Public sporting events, such as the Olympics, are

believed to attract human traffickers looking to take advantage of tourists looking for paid sex.

However in the article Olympic ‘Sex-Trafficking Myth Creates Climate of Fear’ Giedre

Steikunaite argues that the myths about sex trafficking at sporting events is unsubstantiated

and harmful to the marginalized women whom sex trafficking effects (2016). It is in fact typical

that officials more strongly combat sex trafficking during public sporting events that may bring

in a large number of people, so whether this is a valid area for concern is a relevant argument

to bring up. The author builds an effective argument through the use of real life examples and

testimonies which showcase both the lack of evidence linking events to an increase in sex

trafficking as well as the harm the actions taken to prevent this sex trafficking harms those it

seeks to protect.

In arguing against the theory that sporting events increase rates of human trafficking

Steikunaite brings up statistics from the 2006 and 2010 World Cups hosted in Germany and

South Africa respectively. “South Africa's Department of Justice and Constitutional

Development found no cases of trafficking during the 2010 World Cup; five were found in
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Germany during the 2006 World Cup (less than its monthly average);” (Steikunaite, 2016)

Furthermore Steikunaite points out how illogical it would be for sex traffickers to attempt to

take advantage of sporting events given the increased police presence during these times. Not

to mention that, typically, the local paid sex markets in these areas already meet the demands

at these events. These two examples of logos seem to be fairly solid points in the favor of the

author’s argument, however, while reading the article, one must ask; Could it be that the

reason less cases of human trafficking are reported at these events is because officials take

these actions to prevent the crime? If it weren’t for these extensive actions then would

traffickers be more present during these events rather than simply ignore them? This question

was not addressed in the passage, making it difficult to completely buy in to this theory that

sporting events are not any cause for alarm about an increase in sex trafficking.

The author also makes an interesting case using the accounts of people who work with

and as sex workers. The most interesting point in the authors appeal to ethos though is the

account of the sex worker who claimed, 'I'm going on holiday,' …'Business is going to be bad.'

(Steikunaite, 2016). At this point the author had already made the claim that sporting events

are impractical for the sex trade, but actually hearing this statement from someone who works

in the business adds much more validity to the claim.

The article’s appeals to pathos were somewhat more mixed. The author makes the

claim “… despite all the evidence that there is no evidence, the rumor resurfaces over and over

again. Why? - Ironically, it partly comes down to good intentions.” This was one of the better

appeals to pathos as it ties together much of what the author had been arguing up to this point,
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that while it is a noble goal to decrease human trafficking, basing the strategies for combating

human trafficking off of faulty information leads to mostly negative outcomes. The most

interesting appeal to pathos is in paragraph nine where the author argues that “Portraying

women as helpless victims who need to be ‘saved’ from ‘wicked men’ uphold common sexist

philosophy and maintains hetero-normative attitudes that prevail in our society.” (Steikunaite,

2016) There is something to be said about the way that the actions taken to prevent trafficking

effect our perception of our own society, and it is true that the classical perception of the victim

of human trafficking is as a helpless woman, despite the fact that both sexes are effected by

this crime. However, how the conception of these sporting events attracting sex traffickers is

directly linked or responsible for this sexist perception is not properly showcased. The author

follows with the sarcastic remark, “surely, the World Cup is a devilish alcohol-and-paid-sex feast

for men-turned-beasts, is it not? And the only women present at sporting events are sex

workers, right?” But still, it is not properly showcased how this mindset that the author is

mocking is present in the decisions behind focusing on sporting events for sex trafficking. It

feels more like a strawman argument, wherein the author has created a perception of the

thought process behind the idea of sex trafficking at sporting events without giving proper

backup to prove that this is truly what their opposition believes.

The whole article is put together well, but there remains room for improvement. The

author obviously extensive research in the matter but made a few missteps when considering

what that collected information indicated. The article manages to be especially persuasive

when utilizing ethos and logos, building strong arguments with both indisputable facts and
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accounts from people with authority on the subject matter, but falters in its use of pathos by

misconstruing the stance of its opposition through a strawman argument, thus alienating those

who might disagree. The article does however end up making a strong argument for its case

capable of persuading those who might be undecided on the subject matter.

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Steikunaite, Giedre. "Olympic Sex-Trafficking Myth Creates Climate of Fear." The Olympics,

edited by Noah Berlatsky, Greenhaven Press, 2016. At Issue. Opposing Viewpoints in

Context,

http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/EJ3010557231/OVIC?u=viva_jmu&xid=bc984f7b.

Accessed 2 Feb. 2018. Originally published in New Internationalist, 1 Feb. 2012.