One Thing You Can Do TODAY to Fight Human Trafficking
Help shut down Backpage.
"You can't buy a child at Wal-Mart, can you? No, but you can go to Backpage and buy me," says Alissa, a former child victim to New York Times reporter, Nicholas Kristof.
Backpage.com serves as a portal for human trafficking. Owned by Village Voice Media Holdings, LLC, Backpage.com carries an "adults" ads section which is a haven for sex trafficking. Some say that 80% of trafficking of minors in the U.S. comes through Backpage. When Craigslist responded to the outcry against advertising "adult services" in 2010 and shut down this section of their website, Backpage stepped up to the plate and made $27 million dollars in a 12-month period, according to the CNN Freedom Project.
What's the one thing you can do today? Help shut down Backpage. And here's how:
1. Educate yourself
- Village Voice Pimps provides a wealth of information, but if you'd like to check out the facts from other publications, here are a few articles to get you started:
- Watch this video
2. Sign this petition
Although the initial petition was delivered March 29, change.org is continuing to collect signatures telling Village Voice media to stop child sex trafficking on Backpage.com.
3. Peruse this list of advertisers
You'll see advertisers who have withdrawn their ads from Backpage, and you'll see advertisers that still are advertising with Backpage. Withdraw your business from these advertisers and let them know why. One great idea is to stage a "Flash Picket."
4. Make one contact
Contact Andria Winters (202) 228-3998 or Andria_Winters@kirk.senate.gov in U.S.
Senator Kirk's office. Forty Village Voice advertisers were urged to economically
persuade Village Voice to shut down the adult section of Backpage and responded.
Senator Kirk's office will continue to put pressure Village Voice advertisers to withdraw
their ads. Be sure and let Ms. Winters know how much you appreciate her efforts to
partner with us to combat human trafficking.
Contact Andria Winters (202) 228-3998 or Andria_Winters@kirk.senate.gov in U.S.
Senator Kirk's office. Forty Village Voice advertisers were urged to economically
persuade Village Voice to shut down the adult section of Backpage and responded.
Senator Kirk's office will continue to put pressure Village Voice advertisers to withdraw
their ads. Be sure and let Ms. Winters know how much you appreciate her efforts to
partner with us to combat human trafficking.
5. Share this information
Link this post on your FB page, your blog, write your own post, link information that
you find. Use any stream of influence that you have to educate those in your sphere. I
truly believe that if we unite, Backpage will eventually bow to economic pressure, if not
legal and moral pressure, and shut down their adult section thus crippling the human
trafficking industry in the U.S.
you find. Use any stream of influence that you have to educate those in your sphere. I
truly believe that if we unite, Backpage will eventually bow to economic pressure, if not
legal and moral pressure, and shut down their adult section thus crippling the human
trafficking industry in the U.S.
Backpage claims that they are actually "an ally" in the fight against human trafficking as they lure
traffickers, pimps, and predators to a place where officials can identify and pick them up. However,
if their desire were truly to fight trafficking, they would not be in the process of suing the state of
Washington over a law which requires classified companies to verify ages in sex-related ads.
Shuttering Backpage may not put an end to human trafficking, but it would be a step in the right
direction. Help shut down Backpage.