Why The Latest Lawsuits Against Backpage are so Important
On February 7, 2017 Backpage was sued by human trafficking survivors and victim services organizations in Orlando, Florida, and Phoenix, Arizona. Backpage faces liability for conspiracy and negligence. The complaints allege that Backpage has made it easier for traffickers to sell their victims, who are often children. Backpage has profited tremendously from this unlawful activity, raking in millions of dollars each year, while exploited women and children have suffered.
Legal Momentum, and Boies Schiller Flexner are bringing the federal lawsuits.
“Backpage helped create ads offering children and others for commercial sex in violation of numerous state and federal statutes,” said David Boies, the chairman of the law firm BoiesSchiller Flexner LLP and an attorney for the plaintiffs.
These lawsuits are the latest in a series of actions designed to stop a major facilitator of sex trafficking of children. According to a 2017 Senate Report, 73% of all child trafficking originates on Backpage.com.
You may recall that the U.S. Senate opened an investigation into Backpage in October 2015. The Senate issued a report of its findings in November of 2016.
In January 2017, the Senate issued a second report. This damning report linked Backpage to child sex trafficking and explained in detail how Backpage has facilitated trafficking by actively editing advertisements and making it easier for criminals to evade law enforcement.
World Without Exploitation issued a public statement about Backpage in January as the Senate hearing was taking place. We said:
Sexual exploitation and trafficking have long existed because we as a nation have turned a blind eye to what occurs in our communities, our country, and — increasingly — the digital world. Such exploitation may often go unseen by the public, but the damage it does to vulnerable people is readily apparent. This is why the Senate’s investigation of Backpage, and the company’s subsequent decision to shut down the adult section of its site, mark a critical moment in the fight to end human trafficking and sexual exploitation.
Backpage’s decision did not occur in a vacuum. It was the result of a bi-partisan, community-driven effort in which leaders and laypeople from across the nation came together to demand change. Senators Claire McCaskill and Robert Portman led the 18-month investigation and released the report. Survivors of prostitution and trafficking shared their voices, faces, and stories in order to make the painful consequences of Backpage’spolicies clear. World Without Exploitation partners, legal advocates and State Attorneys General from across the nation worked tirelessly to raise awareness of the costs of exploitation, while challenging the idea that trafficking in human beings is a “right” that is protected by free speech.
“As a survivor of the sex trade, I am deeply grateful that at last lawmakers are realizing that sexual exploitation is not ‘safer’ when it occurs online and outside of the public view. It is still exploitation. It still destroys lives,” says Ne’Cole Daniels, a founding Co-Chair of World Without Exploitation.
“I am hopeful that this will send a clear message to other online facilitators that their criminal activities will not be tolerated,” says Valiant Richey, King County Senior Deputy Prosecutor and World Without Exploitation partner.
“An injustice that goes unseen is an injustice that goes unchallenged,” says Lauren Hersh, National Director of World Without Exploitation. “For that reason, the Senate report is particularly welcome. It shines a light on the reality of online exploitation, reminding us that the digital world is a world where too many women, children, and men are vulnerable to exploitation.”
Following the release of this Senate Report, Backpage abruptly closed its adult services section — a step in the right direction. But in doing so, they replaced the section with thesingle word “censored.” Censorship is the suppression of free speech. But free speech does not protect criminal activity.
Clearly, we were happy to see Backpage finally take down the adult services section. But this only scratched the surface of effective resolution. Immediately, these ads relocated to the “dating” section of Backpage’s website. To date, Backpage still operates worldwide, with a $9 million monthly profit from sex ads, that include ads that sell children.
That’s why we remain committed to ending the demand for sexual exploitation. Stopping those, like Backpage,who profit from the facilitation of sex trafficking and exploitation is critical. The tide is turning. We encourage you to get informed, take a stand, and act!
To that end, check out the newly released film, I Am Jane Doe, which showcases the reality of child sex trafficking in this country and Backpage’s complicity in facilitating this criminal activity.
