Thousands of women and under-age girls were reportedly shipped into the New York and New Jersey areas surrounding the Super Bowl to serve as prostitutes for the tens of thousands of fans who were in attendance at the biggest football event of the year.

An estimated 10,000 women were taken to Miami for the 2010 Super Bowl. New Jersey Republican Chris Smith, who chairs the congressional committee overseeing global human rights, said that such a big sporting event "acts as a sex-trafficking magnet".

82,000 spectators attended the Super Bowl this year and hundreds of thousands more boosted the local economy by tens of millions of dollars, with prostitution being part of that pie.

A republican congresswoman from Missouri said that this year online advertisements allowed fans to "order an under-age girl to their hotel room as easily as if they were ordering a delivery of pizza".

Thousands of prostitutes were shipped into the greater New York City area to cater to the demand from spectators. "Now just think about that for a second," said the politician. "Close your eyes and picture your daughter, your niece, or any young girl that you care about being sold for exploitation to a complete stranger."

Dozens of sex traffickers were arrested in New York ahead of the Super Bowl. Police and FBI agents detained around 200 people accused of sex trafficking-related crimes. A special taskforce of FBI agents, police officers and children's department officials in New Jersey spent months preparing.

"In the last fortnight we arrested more than 200 people for prostitution-related offences, including sex traffickers, prostitutes and 'johns' who seek such services," according to one detective.

Countermeasures included flyers designed to help public transport drivers and hotel staff spot traffickers and their victims. Soaps displaying an anti-trafficking hotline number were distributed for use in hotel bathrooms, where prostitutes will often be left alone to wash up following an encounter.