Not For Sale: Buses In Midtown Raise Sex Trafficking Awareness

EDITOR'S NOTE: As Super Bowl LIII in Atlanta approaches, more attention is being focused on the issue of child sex trafficking. Patch is committed to covering this international plague with a focus on local efforts to combat the crime. This is the latest in a series of articles on child sex trafficking as it relates to one of the world's biggest sporting events, which will happen on Feb. 3, 2019, in Atlanta.

ATLANTA, GA -- Dozens of school buses appeared at Midtown's Atlantic Station on Wednesday to kick off National Human Trafficking Awareness Month. The annual event takes place before the Georgia General Assembly convenes later this month. Georgia Gov.-elect Brian Kemp also made his first appearance of the new year, and addressed the group in attendance.

The issue of child sex trafficking is gaining more attention in Atlanta with the approach of Super Bowl LIII on Feb. 3 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

More than 70 school buses parked outside Atlantic Station for the event. They moved from the complex to Mercedes-Benz Stadium with anti-trafficking messages on their sides.

According to the Department of Homeland Security, human trafficking is “modern-day slavery and involves the use of force, fraud, or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act.” Human trafficking is not the same as human smuggling, which involves illegal transportation of a person across a border.

Victims of human trafficking are of all genders, ages, races, countries, socioeconomic statuses, and so on. While human trafficking can happen to anyone, people who are already in vulnerable situations – such as people experiencing homelessness – may be more likely to be targeted.

The different kinds of human trafficking include sex trafficking, forced labor, and domestic servitude. Sex trafficking victims may be forced, threatened, or manipulated by promises of love or affection to engage in sex acts for money. Any person under the age of 18 involved in a commercial sex act is considered a victim of human trafficking.

SEE ALSO: Not For Sale: Fighting Sex Trafficking As Super Bowl Nears

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