Address Super Bowl sex trafficking, Sen. Amy Klobuchar says

MINNEAPOLIS, Jan. 31 (UPI) -- Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., said she asked the National Football League to address sex trafficking at the Super Bowl when considering sites to hold the event.

As Minnesota makes its bid to host a future Super Bowl, Klobuchar and Cindy McCain, wife of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., met with NFL officials to ask the league to consider local efforts to stop sex trafficking of minors that often accompanies high-profile sports events, the (Minneapolis) Star Tribune reported Friday.

"We just told them we thought that would be a good idea [to ask about sex trafficking enforcement]," Klobuchar said in an interview with the newspaper.

She noted a 2011 study in Dallas showed a 272 percent increase in advertisements for escort services in the weeks leading up to the game when it was played there, as well as ads in Tampa in 2009 that marketed girls age 14 and 18 for "Super Bowl Specials."

The NFL has been noncommittal about making sex trafficking enforcement a part of its Super Bowl site selection criteria, the newspaper noted.