Deborah Sigmund, Cheryl Csiky, Callahan Walsh

On this third episode of the series we hear from Deborah Sigmund, Founder and Director of Innocents at Risk; Callahan Walsh, Executive Director of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC); and Cheryl Csiky, Executive Director of In Our Backyard. We talk about efforts made by all three organizations in combating human trafficking and child exploitation at and around the Super Bowl.

READ THE FULL EPISODE 3 TRANSCRIPT

As major events in the U. S. attract more people, they also attract more sex traffickers and more buyers. Law enforcement faces overwhelming challenges to try to stay ahead of the traffickers. Unfortunately, the Super Bowl has become a magnet for traffickers. For the past several years, nonprofit organizations have gone to the host city of the Super Bowl to work with law enforcement in numerous ways. This year, with the Super Bowl in Los Angeles, Kevin Malone, former general manager of the L.A. Dodgers and the co-founder and CEO of The U.S. Institute Against Human Trafficking, is leading efforts to help fight trafficking during the week of the Super Bowl. Mr. Malone formed the Alliance Against Human Trafficking and Exploitation. Some of the organizations that are working with this alliance are A21, It’s A Penalty, Operation Underground Railroad, and Indianapolis Colts head coach Frank Reich and his family. In addition, the NFL has given financial support for this alliance.

We also discuss the EARN IT Act, bipartisan legislation that was recently reintroduced in the Senate by Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, and Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut, and co-sponsored in the House by Representative Sylvia Garcia, Democrat of Texas, and Representative Ann Wagner, Republican of Missouri. The Eliminating Abusive and Rampant Neglect of Interactive Technologies Act -- the EARN IT Act -- will protect children everywhere by eliminating blanket immunity for violations of laws related to online child sexual abuse material. Innocents at Risk believes that tech companies need to be held responsible and no longer turn a blind eye to child sexual material on their websites.

The EARN It Act will also establish a commission of survivors, technology representatives, and government stakeholders to create recommendations and voluntary best practices for tech companies to respond to the global pandemic of online sexual exploitation of children.

The EARN IT Act will finally introduce accountability for big tech. Please ask your senators and member of Congress to support this important legislation today. We need the EARN IT Act in order to make the internet a safer place for our children.

Resources:
Innocents at Risk website
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children website
NCMEC's CyberTipline
In Our Backyard website
Convenience Stores Against Trafficking
The Earn It Act