Beyond the Games: The Overlooked Sexual Abuse and Trafficking Risks of Mega-Sporting Events

Global sporting events such as the Olympic Games and FIFA World Cup generate extraordinary commercial opportunities and equally extraordinary corporate scrutiny. Companies often focus their risk planning on cybersecurity, brand protection, labor practices, and physical security. Far less frequently do they treat sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, and human trafficking as core enterprise risks tied to event participation.

That may be a mistake.

On the heels of the 2026 Winter Olympics, and with the 2026 FIFA World Cup and 2028 Los Angeles Olympics approaching, plaintiffs’ firms, regulators, non-governmental organizations, and shareholders are increasingly examining whether companies connected to mega-events adequately anticipated and mitigated sexual abuse–related risks. This Insight outlines why these risks are often underestimated, which industries are most vulnerable, and what companies can do now to mitigate risk.

Why Sexual Abuse Is Often Overlooked

Sexual abuse and trafficking risks tied to mega-events frequently remain outside the core risk matrix.

The conduct is criminal, so companies assume it is external.

Because trafficking and sexual assault are crimes typically perpetrated by individuals, companies may view them as law enforcement issues rather than enterprise risks with corporate responsibilities. However, modern civil liability theories, including recently expanding use of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), increasingly focus on whether businesses “knew or should have known” and failed to implement reasonable preventive controls.

Sexual assault also qualifies as a form of prohibited sexual harassment under federal and many state anti-discrimination and anti-harassment employment laws, such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. A company may be liable for the assault of an employee and its response to the assault, even when the assailant is a third-party nonemployee. For example, in Lockard v. Pizza Hut Inc., the US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit upheld a jury verdict of employer liability for a customer assault on a waitress after the waitress complained to her manager about the customer’s harassment.

Ecosystem risk responsibility is blurred.

Mega-events involve thousands of temporary workers, volunteers, vendors, franchisees, and third-party partners operating across multiple jurisdictions. When responsibility is shared, accountability can become blurred, creating exposure across the ecosystem.

Long-tail liability is poorly understood.

Revival-window statutes for childhood sexual abuse claims have reopened decades-old conduct. Organizations that view event risk as short-term may underestimate the potential for claims to surface years later.

Human rights due diligence expectations are only beginning to expand.

Global frameworks such as the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and emerging mandatory due diligence regimes are raising expectations that companies proactively assess and mitigate adverse human rights impacts linked to their operations and business relationships.

In short, while these risks may not feel operationally central in the way cybersecurity or crowd control do, legal doctrine is increasingly treating sexual abuse as foreseeable and preventable harm.

Which Industries Are Most at Risk and Under What Theories of Liability

Event organizers and governing bodies, youth-facing sports organizations and national federations, hospitality and tourism companies (including hotel operators and short-term rental platforms), security and event services contractors, and global sponsors and corporate partners face heightened scrutiny for their sexual abuse prevention and monitoring efforts.

While risk profiles differ by industry, the following common legal theories are driving claims.

Negligent Hiring, Supervision, and Retention

Negligent hiring, supervision, and retention are the low-hanging fruit of legal liability. Organizations that employ or credential coaches, volunteers, security personnel, or event staff face exposure for failing to conduct appropriate background checks, investigate complaints, or supervise personnel adequately. Claims often hinge on prior warning signs or internal reports that were not acted upon. These theories are common in cases involving abuse of minors and misconduct by individuals operating under institutional authority.

Vicarious Liability (Respondeat Superior)

A once well-litigated liability hook, vicarious liability theories now stand on the precipice of extraordinary expansion.

In May 2025, the American Law Institute approved a controversial new provision of the Restatement of Torts, Third expanding vicarious liability to employers for certain sexual assaults committed by employees against third parties who are “particularly vulnerable.” This provision, if adopted by the courts, would expand risk and exposure for employers across a host of industries.

For organizations connected to mega-events, this development may increase the likelihood that vicarious liability claims survive motions to dismiss or summary judgment, particularly where employees or volunteers are entrusted with authority over minors, athletes, or other vulnerable individuals, or where the employer confers apparent authority that enables access and control.

Courts applying this framework may focus on whether the employment relationship created or enhanced the risk of abuse, rather than on whether the misconduct was solely for personal reasons. As a result, plaintiffs may be better positioned to advance respondeat superior theories in the sports and event context than in prior decades.

Additionally, under anti-harassment employment laws, employers may be held strictly liable for harassment, which may include assaults, by supervisors towards employees or volunteers.

Negligent Security and Premises Liability

Hospitality providers, venue operators, and security contractors may face claims alleging failure to provide a reasonably safe environment. Plaintiffs often argue that trafficking, exploitation, or assault was foreseeable and that companies failed to implement appropriate monitoring, reporting, or intervention protocols.

Foreseeability arguments are strengthened where there is industry-wide awareness of trafficking risk around large tourism events.

Civil Liability Under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act

The federal Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (18 USC § 1595) has become a significant source of exposure for hospitality and tourism companies. Civil liability may attach where an entity knowingly benefits (financially or otherwise) from participation in a venture that it knew or should have known engaged in sex or labor trafficking.

Plaintiffs have pursued claims against hotel operators and franchisors under expansive interpretations of “participation in a venture” and “knowing benefit.” Parallel state trafficking statutes may create additional exposure.

Mandatory Reporting and Child Safeguarding Failures

Youth-facing organizations and event organizers may face claims for failure to comply with mandatory reporting laws, failure to implement safeguarding policies, or failure to warn of known risks. Many jurisdictions have enacted revival-window statutes allowing historical childhood sexual abuse claims to proceed years or decades after the alleged misconduct, creating long-tail liability risk that few one-time event engagements contemplate as a future risk.

Risk Amplifiers and a Practical Prevention Guide

Across industries, exposure increases where there is the following:

• Prior notice of misconduct or complaints
• Inadequate documentation of investigations
• Weak or inaccessible reporting channels
• Failure to train frontline staff on trafficking indicators
• Public safety representations inconsistent with internal practices
• Cross-border operations implicating evolving human rights due diligence regimes
• Large-scale hiring without adequate background checks

To elevate this risk appropriately within enterprise risk management frameworks, companies connected to mega-events should consider the following:

• Conducting targeted human rights and safeguarding risk assessments specific to event involvement
• Reviewing and updating anti-trafficking and child protection policies
• Implementing mandatory training for frontline employees and contractors
• Establishing or strengthening confidential reporting and escalation mechanisms
• Reviewing franchise and third-party agreements for compliance obligations and risk-specific indemnification
• Ensuring board-level oversight and documentation of compliance efforts, treating sexual abuse and trafficking risks as part of core operational planning