In soccer, players are expected to stop when they see a red card. But in the commercial sex trade, many buyers ignore the red flags.

In our Buyers report, one sex buyer admitted:

"Has a handler staying in the room with her, not independent, watched him leave the hotel and wait in a car facing the door before I went in."

But rather than walking away, he went through with the act. This quote highlights a reality often ignored in conversations about commercial sex: buyers frequently recognize signs of control, coercion, or exploitation and choose to participate anyway.

In the wake of the Epstein case and growing public awareness of the connection between prostitution and trafficking, states across the country have increasingly focused on holding sex buyers accountable and funding survivor services through buyer-paid fines.

In recent years, 8 states have elevated sex buying offenses to felony-level crimes. Eight other states have strengthened laws by increasing fines that fund victim services, requiring buyer education programs, or both.

Momentum continues to build nationwide, with more than a dozen other states considering legislation that would impose greater penalties on sex buyers, including felony charges, substantial fines, or income-based sanctions that finance survivor services.

Buying sex doesn't just harm the people being purchased—it can have devastating consequences for sex buyers as well. Arrests and convictions can result in loss of employment, professional licenses, and even family law rights related to child custody, visitation, or adoption.

The impact of soliciting sex acts from vulnerable people extends beyond a single transaction, to affect families, careers, and entire communities.

Blow the Whistle on Sex Buying

The World Cup is built on fair play. Exploitation is not.

One sex buyer in our report explained his mindset this way:

“She is an object that’s placed there by society for men like us to use and move on with life.”

His words expose a reality many would rather ignore: sex buying depends on seeing human beings as objects. And this dehumanization and misogyny is what traffickers and exploiters rely on. That's why buyer accountability and deterrence matters.

Sex Buying Isn’t a Game Campaign

World Cup

2026 Campaign Recap

Over 250 trafficking victims recovered, including over 50 children in just our 6 host markets; and

Over 270 exploiters apprehended, including 40 sex buyers in New Jersey alone.

During the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Rights4Girls launched a nationwide billboard campaign to combat sex trafficking and sex tourism.

Displayed across six major host markets—including Atlanta, Dallas, Kansas City, Boston, Seattle, and the NYC-NJ region—the campaign challenged the demand for sex trafficking and the exploitation that follows.

The World Cup was a global celebration. But amid the crowds, hotel bookings, parties, and tourism, traffickers and exploiters also saw opportunity.

Rights4Girls made sure they saw something else: a message that buying sex is not entertainment, not harmless, and not a game.

Because the world’s biggest sporting events shouldn’t come at the expense of women and girls.

The Pattern Is Unmistakable:

Recent events show how sex trafficking and exploitation can intensify around major sporting events.

2026 World Cup-related operations alone revealed that:

In Kansas City, 9 children were recovered, 9 other victims were connected to services, and 19 people were arrested on state and federal charges;
In Atlanta, 54 trafficking victims were recovered while authorities arrested 13 on human trafficking charges and 11 on child exploitation;
In Massachusetts US Marshals recovered 35 missing children while police arrested 7 men in a human trafficking operation for seeking minors for sex acts;
Seattle identified 3 child victims and made 17 arrests, including 10 felony cases;
In New York, authorities recovered 43 trafficking victims including 7 children and arrested 89 exploiters for trafficking-related offenses;
Dallas authorities reported the identification of 8 trafficking victims including 4 children, and the arrest of 335 for solicitation in an operation focused on targeting the demand, which included 4 law enforcement officers;
New Jersey officials reported 97 suspected trafficking victims and 71 arrests, including 40 sex buyers;
South Florida authorities arrested 12 men on felony charges for seeking sex from minors; and
Rhode Island State Police arrested 6 men in a trafficking sting targeting those seeking to solicit minors for sex.

Why This Campaign Matters

“Buying sex is far from a victimless crime,” said Yasmin Vafa, Executive Director of Rights4Girls. “Major occasions like the FIFA World Cup bring a lot of fun and entertainment to cities, but they also attract hundreds of thousands of out-of-town and global visitors, including those seeking to buy marginalized women and girls for sex.”

“This is a disturbing issue year-round, but can take place in a particularly concentrated way during big ticket events like the World Cup, Super Bowl or All-Star Games. It’s crucial for people to realize that in the shadows of all the celebration, there can be a dark underbelly of trafficking and exploitation.”

“Far too often, society focuses on the traffickers or victims, but rarely takes into account the third party in the transaction: the sex buyer. So we are turning the global glare of the World Cup into a spotlight on those driving this harmful industry. But to be clear, trafficking doesn’t simply disappear once the final whistle blows and the tournament ends.”

Boston billboard campaign press conference

The 2026 World Cup campaign was one chapter in Rights4Girls’ nationwide effort to confront the demand that fuels sex trafficking—from the NFL Draft and Daytona 500 to the Kentucky Derby, MLB All-Star Game, and March Madness. We’ve hit over 16 cities and counting.

Because exploitation doesn’t happen without demand.

For too long, society has told women and girls that they’re the ones who must change — their clothes, behavior, expectations — in order to live in peace and safety. Similarly, the burden of surviving sexual exploitation and abuse has historically been placed on survivors: to live with shame and trauma while perpetrators often escape accountability.

For a deeper look at the attitudes and behaviors of men who buy sex — and the policy solutions that can help end exploitation — read our report, Buyers Unmasked: Exposing the Men Who Buy Sex & Solutions to End Exploitation.

Rights4Girls was recently invited to testify as an expert witness before the House Homeland Security Committee Task Force on Addressing Human Trafficking at Mass Gatherings. Our Executive Director, Yasmin Vafa, focused our testimony on the urgent need to confront demand as a means of trafficking prevention and discussed our Sex Buying Isn’t a Game national billboard campaign that works to disrupt sex-buying and sex tourism associated with major sporting events. Watch the hearing to learn more about how we can better coordinate to end trafficking before it starts and read our testimony submitted for the record.

Campaign Coverage from FIFA Host Cities:

To read more about sex buyers and the demand that drives trafficking, including some well-known cases, see here:

For more reports and data related to sex trafficking, sexual violence, justice involvement, and/or the sex trade, please see our Resources page.