ROCHESTER, Minn. - As the Superbowl approaches, a dark reality of how large events like the Superbowl, can be a big sex trafficking scene, is coming to light.
Mayo Clinic is teaming up with The Link, a nonprofit organization, to create an online gift registry for sex trafficking survivors.
They are asking for basic donations like socks, clothes, and blankets.
Dr. Arne Graff is the Division Chair of the Child Abuse Pediatric Program.
"Giving them ownership back, giving them basic needs, we're trying to rebuild their emotional part as well as give them physical things they need," he said.
He said while these major events can bring sex traffickers, the crime is all around us.
"It's metro areas, it's rural areas, it's all around us, so people just need to realize it does exist in our backyards," he said. "They're right under our eyes and we don't see them, that's a big part of the problem."
Graff said to look for red flags like people who are very controlled by someone else and people who have a lavish lifestyle but not a job that may afford it.
Here is a direct link to the online registry for donations.
