Groups working to combat the problem of human trafficking, in particular the sex trafficking of young girls, are using the Super Bowl to spotlight the problem.

They say sex trafficking spikes at major sporting events such as the Super Bowl.

Kara French, the executive director of Eden House, a local home for female survivors of human trafficking, offered some startling facts about sex trafficking at the City Council's Health Committee meeting Wednesday:

"The average age of entry into prostitution in the United States for American girls is 12 to 14."

"New Orleans is a hotbed for human trafficking. It's long had the history of people coming here to do things they wouldn't do in their home city."

"If you're 12, and you end up on the street, and you're pimped out, the grooming process often includes drugging and gang raping these girls."

French says sex trafficking is a problem all over the United States, but especially in New Orleans.