When the FIFA World Cup comes to town, the world celebrates.
Stadiums fill. Hotels book up. Restaurants overflow. Millions of visitors pour into host cities.
But alongside the excitement, another conversation resurfaces every tournament: Will human trafficking increase?
In the lead-up to the 2026 FIFA World Cup—the largest in history, spanning the United States, Canada, and Mexico—law enforcement agencies, anti-trafficking organizations, survivor advocates, and financial crime experts are preparing for exactly that possibility.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has warned that traffickers may seek to exploit the increased tourism and commercial activity associated with the tournament. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, 2026Copy Likewise, experts from the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS) and Thomson Reuters have emphasized the importance of coordinated prevention efforts before, during, and after the event.ACAMS, 2026; Thomson Reuters Institute, 2026Copy
The World Cup doesn’t create sex trafficking, but large events that draw large amounts of people can increase the amount of trafficking, and that’s why law enforcement and nonprofits are setting up their game in various areas to prepare.
But there’s an important reality that often gets overlooked.
Sex trafficking happens every single day. These events shine a spotlight on a problem that occurs everywhere, 24/7. And if we only pay attention during major sporting events, we’ll miss one of the biggest drivers of sexual exploitation, the rest of the year.
Why experts are concerned about the World Cup
The 2026 FIFA World Cup is unlike any before it.
For the first time, the tournament will feature 48 teams competing across 16 cities in three countries over five weeks. FIFA expects millions of international visitors, making it one of the largest sporting events ever hosted.
That combination of massive crowds, increased travel, temporary housing, nightlife, and cash flow creates opportunities traffickers often seek to exploit, and more demand.
As FinCEN explained in a nationwide advisory:
“While human trafficking is an ever-present threat in the United States, major events can create a concentrated demand for licit and illicit services”.Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). Notice on the Threat of Human Trafficking During the 2026 FIFA World Cup.Copy
Similarly, Thomson Reuters noted that traffickers may attempt to exploit “the inevitable chaos surrounding a major event like the World Cup,” making collaboration among financial institutions, law enforcement, hotels, transportation providers, and nonprofits especially important.Thomson Reuters Institute. Tackling Human Trafficking at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.Copy
Across host cities, businesses are increasing trafficking-awareness training for hotel staff, healthcare workers, rideshare drivers, and financial professionals to help identify victims and disrupt trafficking networks before exploitation occurs.ACAMS. 2026 FIFA World Cup and Human Trafficking Risk.Copy
But the evidence is more nuanced than many headlines suggest
Every major sporting event brings predictions and media attention that trafficking will “skyrocket.”
The reality is more complicated.
Researchers have found mixed evidence about whether large sporting events themselves produce dramatic increases in trafficking. Because trafficking is intentionally hidden and significantly underreported, measuring changes around specific events is extremely difficult.
One of the most widely cited claims about major sporting events is that they cause dramatic spikes in human trafficking. But research suggests the reality is more nuanced.
A 2016 data analysis examining online sex advertisement patterns across the United States and Canada found evidence that some major events, including the 2013, 2015, and 2016 Super Bowls and the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), were associated with statistically significant increases in “new-to-town” sex advertisements, a metric researchers used as a possible indicator of an influx of sex workers and, potentially, sex trafficking activity. However, those same researchers also identified numerous other locations and events that experienced even larger increases in sex advertising than events like the Super Bowl.Miller, K., Kennedy, E., Dubrawski, A., et al. (2016). Analysis of public events and sex trafficking. arXiv. https://arxiv.org/abs/1602.05048Copy
For example, Memorial Day weekend in Myrtle Beach consistently produced a much larger spike in “new-to-town” sex ads, by roughly an order of magnitude greater than what was observed around the Super Bowl.
Rather than claiming the World Cup automatically causes trafficking to surge, many experts emphasize preparedness.
As HSToday explains, discussions about the tournament should focus on “preparing for reality, not panic.” Large sporting events may increase opportunities for existing traffickers by concentrating demand and making it easier to hide victims among enormous crowds, but they do not create trafficking networks overnight.
In other words, the World Cup may amplify an existing problem rather than create a new one.
Sex trafficking is happening every day
The greatest danger of focusing only on major sporting events is that it can make trafficking seem like a temporary problem.
According to the National Human Trafficking Hotline, 11,999 trafficking cases involving approximately 22,000 victims were identified in the United States in 2024. Remember, these are only cases that had tips sent in to the hotline; sex trafficking is largely underreported.
Globally, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reports that victims of trafficking have been identified from at least 162 nationalities across 128 countries, and women and girls continue to make up the majority of detected victims trafficked for sexual exploitation.
Trafficking happens in:
- Hotels
- Apartment complexes
- Residential neighborhoods
- Massage businesses
- Truck stops
- Online platforms
- Private homes
It happens in cities. It happens in the suburbs. It happens in rural communities. It happens during the World Cup. It can happen behind the camera during porn. And it happens when no one is watching.
As anti-trafficking experts interviewed by the Fort Worth Report emphasized, the World Cup should not distract from the reality that trafficking is “a year-round issue,” not a seasonal crime.
Demand doesn’t disappear after the final whistle
Human trafficking is fundamentally driven by profit. Traffickers exploit people because someone is willing to pay.
That’s why anti-trafficking organizations consistently emphasize reducing demand alongside supporting survivors and prosecuting traffickers. When demand for commercial sexual exploitation exists, traffickers have a financial incentive to recruit, groom, coerce, manipulate, or force victims into exploitation.
Major events may temporarily concentrate that demand. But demand itself exists year-round.
The International Labour Organization estimates that 6.3 million people were living in forced commercial sexual exploitation on any given day in 2021, representing nearly one-quarter of all people trapped in forced labor. Women and girls account for the overwhelming majority of victims.International Labour Organization, Walk Free, & International Organization for Migration. (2022). Global estimates of modern slavery: Forced labour and forced marriage. International Labour Organization. https://www.ilo.org/publications/global-estimates-modern-slavery-forced-labour-and-forced-marriageCopy
They also estimate that the forced commercial sexual exploitation generates approximately $173 billion (USD) in illegal profits every year, making it one of the world’s most profitable forms of organized crime.International Labour Organization. (2024). Profits and poverty: The economics of forced labour. https://www.ilo.org/publications/profits-and-poverty-economics-forced-labourCopy Additionally, according to the UNODC Global Report on Trafficking in Persons 2024, 38% of trafficking victims detected worldwide are children, a 31% increase since the previous reporting period.United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. (2024). Global Report on Trafficking in Persons 2024. United Nations. https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/data-and-analysis/glotip.htmlCopy And as the a the U.S. Department of State has warned, reports from around the world also show dramatic increases in online commercial sexual exploitation, underscoring how technology has made it easier than ever for traffickers to reach buyers and exploit victims.
The role pornography often plays in trafficking
This is where another uncomfortable conversation comes into play. While many people agree that sex trafficking is an issue, many fail to realize its connection to pornography.
Increasingly, exploitation happens online. Trafficking victims may be coerced into producing explicit photos or videos, livestreaming sexual abuse, or creating subscription-based content under threats, manipulation, violence, or financial control. Consumers often have no reliable way to determine whether the person appearing in sexually explicit material participated freely or under coercion.
Recent criminal cases, including allegations involving an OnlyFans operation in Bellevue, Washington, and a BBC investigation, have highlighted how traffickers may exploit digital platforms while presenting abusive situations as consensual content.
That reality matters because pornography doesn’t exist in isolation from the broader commercial sex industry.
Research has documented that consumers generally cannot verify the circumstances under which pornographic content was produced. Force, fraud, coercion, trafficking, abuse, or exploitation are often impossible to identify simply by watching a video.
As Mariah, a GirlsDoPorn trafficking survivor, shares, after countless individuals consumed the pornography made of her exploitation, she reiterates that no one could tell they were watching her actually being raped and abused for 8 hours.
“I know how it looks. I very much understand that’s a girl smiling on the bed. . . But the reality of it was, what was my option? … I had no choice. And in my mind, complying was the best chance for survival,” she says.
She continues to say how most people don’t want to consider that the porn they’re watching is actually exploitation.
“People don’t want to think about this happening… But people don’t know that what they’re seeing isn’t necessarily what happened… I had no concept that pornography was in any relation non-consensual at all… I wouldn’t have thought that unless this happened to me.”
Mariah’s story is just one reason many organizations, including ours, work to prevent sexual exploitation and encourage people to think critically about pornography’s connection to trafficking and exploitation.
Pornography can shape attitudes that increase demand
Researchers have found that pornography can also influence beliefs and expectations surrounding sex.
A meta-analysis of 22 studies found that pornography consumption was associated with an increased likelihood of sexual aggression in general population samples.Wright, P. J., Tokunaga, R. S., & Kraus, A. (2016). A meta-analysis of pornography consumption and actual acts of sexual aggression in general population studies. Journal of Communication, 66(1), 183–205. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcom.12201Copy Other research has found associations between pornography consumption and attitudes supportive of violence against women Hald, G. M., Malamuth, N. M., & Yuen, C. (2010). Pornography and attitudes supporting violence against women: Revisiting the relationship in nonexperimental studies. Aggressive Behavior, 36(1), 14–20. https://doi.org/10.1002/ab.20328Copy , while a landmark content analysis of best-selling pornography videos found that 88.2% of scenes contained physical aggression and 48.7% contained verbal aggression. In the vast majority of those scenes, the targets of aggression responded neutrally or appeared to respond with pleasure. Bridges, A. J., Wosnitzer, R., Scharrer, E., Sun, C., & Liberman, R. (2010). Aggression and sexual behavior in best-selling pornography videos: A content analysis update. Violence Against Women, 16(10), 1065–1085. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801210382866Copy
When the media repeatedly portrays people as products to be consumed rather than human beings deserving of dignity, it can reinforce attitudes that make exploitation easier to justify. That doesn’t mean every pornography consumer supports trafficking.
But it does raise an important question: If trafficking depends on demand, what happens when an industry normalizes viewing human bodies primarily as products for sexual consumption? Bodies to be purchased?
Awareness shouldn’t end with the tournament
It’s encouraging that the World Cup has prompted governments, nonprofits, businesses, and communities to prepare. More hotel workers are receiving trafficking training. More financial institutions are learning to detect suspicious transactions. More healthcare providers are being taught to recognize warning signs. More people are paying attention.
That’s all good news. Right?
But after the final match is played, trafficking victims won’t disappear.
Researchers have identified what some call the “flashlight effect.” When a major event like the World Cup draws widespread media attention, law enforcement often increases operations, nonprofits ramp up awareness campaigns, and more people learn how to recognize the warning signs of trafficking.
As a result, more cases may be identified, not necessarily because trafficking suddenly increased, but because more people were actively looking for it. And if more people can learn the signs to look for and report trafficking, the better.
An increase, though, in reports or arrests doesn’t automatically mean an increase in trafficking. In some cases, it may reflect improved awareness, better reporting, and stronger enforcement efforts. Confusing those two possibilities can paint an inaccurate picture of the problem and make it harder to direct prevention and victim-support resources where they’re needed most.
If these events can help more law enforcement become aware of how to help trafficking victims, help more bystanders identify and report victims, and create more resources for survivors, that’s a win, but it can’t stop after the event ends.
Ultimately, the goal isn’t simply to count more cases; it’s to better understand where exploitation is happening so communities can respond effectively year-round, not just when a major sporting event is in town.
If the World Cup motivates us to learn about trafficking, support survivor organizations, recognize warning signs, and examine the cultural factors—including pornography—that can contribute to sexual exploitation, then perhaps the conversation can continue long after the trophy is lifted.
Because protecting vulnerable people shouldn’t be reserved for championship season.
It’s a responsibility that lasts all year.
Your Support Matters Now More Than Ever
Most kids today are exposed to porn by the age of 12. By the time they’re teenagers, 75% of boys and 70% of girls have already viewed itRobb, M.B., & Mann, S. (2023). Teens and pornography. San Francisco, CA: Common Sense.Copy —often before they’ve had a single healthy conversation about it.
Even more concerning: over half of boys and nearly 40% of girls believe porn is a realistic depiction of sexMartellozzo, E., Monaghan, A., Adler, J. R., Davidson, J., Leyva, R., & Horvath, M. A. H. (2016). “I wasn’t sure it was normal to watch it”: A quantitative and qualitative examination of the impact of online pornography on the values, attitudes, beliefs and behaviours of children and young people. Middlesex University, NSPCC, & Office of the Children’s Commissioner.Copy . And among teens who have seen porn, more than 79% of teens use it to learn how to have sexRobb, M.B., & Mann, S. (2023). Teens and pornography. San Francisco, CA: Common Sense.Copy . That means millions of young people are getting sex ed from violent, degrading content, which becomes their baseline understanding of intimacy. Out of the most popular porn, 33%-88% of videos contain physical aggression and nonconsensual violence-related themesFritz, N., Malic, V., Paul, B., & Zhou, Y. (2020). A descriptive analysis of the types, targets, and relative frequency of aggression in mainstream pornography. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 49(8), 3041-3053. doi:10.1007/s10508-020-01773-0Copy Bridges et al., 2010, “Aggression and Sexual Behavior in Best-Selling Pornography Videos: A Content Analysis,” Violence Against Women.Copy .
From increasing rates of loneliness, depression, and self-doubt, to distorted views of sex, reduced relationship satisfaction, and riskier sexual behavior among teens, porn is impacting individuals, relationships, and society worldwideFight the New Drug. (2024, May). Get the Facts (Series of web articles). Fight the New Drug.Copy .
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