Sturgis Rally is largest attraction in the state for sex traffickers

This year’s Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is scheduled to take place August 3-12. With hundreds of thousands of visitors attending, it will become the largest city in South Dakota during those ten days. Many tourists flock to the area because of the motorcycles, concerts, and other scheduled events. Vendors descend on the town to sell food, t-shirts, Harley gear, and all kinds of rally souvenirs. Some of the vendors and tourists, however, are engaged in a much more nefarious tourist business: the Sturgis rally is the largest attraction in South Dakota for sex traffickers.

South Dakota is a hot spot for men coming to the state for hunting, the Sturgis Bike Rally, and other tourism events and destinations. Marty Jackley, South Dakota Attorney General, stated, “Whenever you have a large group of people that come together, such as the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, there’s always a handful of bad.” Law enforcement agencies run human trafficking operations during these times, putting out advertisements pretending to sell young children. And shockingly, hundreds of people respond. Last year was the fifth year undercover sex sting operations have taken plac at the Sturgis Rally

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