Unmasking the Truth about Sex Trafficking on Super Bowl Weekend
Las Vegas, NV (PRWEB) January 20, 2016 -- Super Bowl Sunday may be an iconic day for sports, but there is a dark side that goes along with this celebration of the skill, strength and endurance. According to Texas Attorney General Greg Abbot, the day of the Big Game is also the single, largest sex trafficking event in the United States.
Las Vegas is a popular destination for football fans on Super Bowl Weekend. Visitors fly in from all over the world to lay down their bets, attend exclusive parties and lose all inhibition, while local sex traffickers take full advantage of this opportunity and the girls they prey upon.
The statistics are alarming: According to the Polaris Project, as many as 20.9 million people worldwide are currently victims —1 million of which are sexually exploited children. Perpetrators have discovered that human trafficking is big business, generating up to $32 billion a year in profits a year. In May of 2013,Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department’s vice unit reported that 2,144 sex-trafficking victims, under age 18, have been “rescued” in Las Vegas in the past decade, averaging 126 per year. More than half, 1,080 were from Nevada; 542 were from California and the rest came from other states.
Last year, a group of Las Vegas women decided enough is enough and created the B.E. A. S.H.E.R.O. Foundation. Their mission is to help the community by providing resources needed to support, sustain and empower young girls and women, ages 25 and under, who have been abused, abandoned, and exploited. The ladies of B.E. A. S.H.E.R.O. have also taken this a step further, by becoming a resource center for other organizations with similar missions.
B.E. A. S.H.E.R.O. Foundation will host their inaugural Mardi Gras Masquerade event on Saturday, February 6, 2016, 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Rain nightclub, located in the Palms Casino. The Mardi Gras Masquerade will feature a Taste of New Orleans dining experience, open bar, world class entertainment, a silent auction and much more. Attendees will have the opportunity to mix and mingle with top Las Vegas entertainers, celebrity guests and business professionals who support this new organization. Funds raised at this event will directly support at risk young woman within the Las Vegas community, by providing financial resources for the foundation’s infrastructure, which will be used to create educational and assistance programs.
According to B.E. A. S.H.E.R.O Founder and Co-Chair Kimberly Miles, it was important to host this black tie event night before the Super Bowl, as many people are unaware how significant this weekend is to sex trafficking and the serious challenges this has created in the Las Vegas community. At age 10, Miles experienced life on the street after the suicide of her mother, “My father kept us as long as he could… I had to move in with a 27 year old female cocaine dealer. She exposed me to a life no child should be, no matter what. While I am not proud of it, I am not embarrassed anymore. It’s amazing what one will do to survive especially, when you have no other choice.” Kimberly continues, “We are hosting the Mardi Gras Masquerade in an effort to ‘unmask’ the trauma many girls and young women in our community are facing. We are also celebrating their strength, endurance and sheer will to survive.”
Purchase Mardi Gras Masquerade Event Tickets
Mardi Gras Masquerade event sponsorship opportunities are available by calling (844)-67-SHERO or email info(at)sherofoundation(dot)org.
B.E. A. S.H.E.R.O. Foundation is a 501C3 Non-Profit organization. For more information, to volunteer or to make a donation, visit http://www.sherofoundation.org.
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Traci Smith, Rockin' Las Vegas, http://www.rockinlasvegas.com, +1 (310) 863-2613, [email protected]
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