SAN ANTONIO – Projecting over Interstate 10, one digital billboard reads, “It’s madness to think sex buying is a ‘victimless’ crime.”
The campaign came into town this week to raise awareness about the dangers of sex trafficking, and the billboard hanging over Crossroads Boulevard is just one of dozens across the United States.
“We were taking a shot that hopefully they would spark conversation and that they would be widely seen,” Yasmin Vafa, the executive director of Rights4Girls, said.
Rights4Girls, a national human rights organization, is sponsoring the initiative. They have billboards in eight cities coinciding with the NCAA Men’s Final Four festivities. The goal is to “expose the realities of the sex trade.”
“Any type of large-scale event with thousands of out-of-town visitors attracts traffickers because of the potential for increased demand for commercial sex,” Vafa said.
More than 100,000 people are expected to come through San Antonio this weekend. Vafa said typical campaigns often talk about sex traffickers or their victims, but this time, they are focused on addressing the buyers.
“This whole enterprise is in existence because of the demand,” Vafa said. “What we often say is, if there were no buyer, there would be no business.”
Sex trafficking is a type of human trafficking, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Across the world, it’s estimated that about 4.8 million people each year are “trafficked for forced sexual exploitation.”
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