WE DID IT!!!
Our day on Capitol Hill lobbying for SESTA January 11was a huge success.
Highlights:
We had a standing-room only crowd at our Legislative riefing that began with a truly knock-it-out-of-the-park Survivor Speak Out led by Vednita Carter and Autumn Burris. You can watch the briefing on our Facebook page.
We debuted our phenomenal PSA, produced by World Without Exploitation, Sanctuary for Families and 50 Eggs Films. It’s trending on Twitter, being shared by celebrities and survivors alike, and really inspiring people. Watch it here. Please share it on social media, tag us @worldweus & use the hashtag #PassSESTA.
We heard inspiring remarks by Senators Portman, Blumenthal and McCaskill, along with Kevin Ryan of Covenant House.
Lauren Hersh, our National Director, had the honor of moderating a powerful panel of amazing women who really made it clear (in case there was any doubt) why we need to #PassSESTA: Mary Mazzio, IamJaneDoe; Marian Hatcher, Cook County Sheriff & SPACE Int’l; Yasmin Vafa, Rights4Girls; and Carol Robles Roman, Legal Momentum.
StolenYouth in Seattle organized a “Rally Watch” event. They watched us livestream, and held a discussion about the issues with King County prosecutor Val Richey. How cool is that?
We know of at least two other watching events — one in Ohio, and another with a law school class on human trafficking at The Catholic University of America in D.C.
And then, after the briefing, more than 100 participants visited more than 400 Representatives’ offices urging Congress to pass SESTA.
We had impact. We have momentum. We inspired, empowered, energized. And we hope we are persuading Congress to act on SESTA.
So many people contributed and participated; thank you all.
We are especially appreciative of our extraordinary partners, Mary Mazzio and Rick Lane — couldn’t have done it without you!
Looking forward to continuing to make progress and working together to create a World Without Exploitation!
