Markeshia Ricks Photo
Blumenthal, with Theresa Leonard-Rozyn and Love146’s Erin Williamson in New Haven.
A bill that would hold websites that knowingly allow advertisements that facilitate sex trafficking accountable is on the way to the White House for the president’s signature.
The U.S. Senate Wednesday passed the bill, the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act (SESTA), with overwhelming bipartisan support.
The bill amends the Communications Decency Act to stop it from protecting sites like Backpage.com from liability associated with content posted by others. Proponents said the change allows prosecutors, law enforcement and survivors of trafficking to take legal action against such sites; opponents argue that it could hinder efforts to catch sex traffickers.
U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who had come to New Haven earlier this month to stump for the bill along with the city-based advocacy group Love 146, praised his colleagues for voting 97 to 2 to pass the bill.
“Today’s vote is a victory for the brave survivors of online sex trafficking, their families, and the advocates who never gave up in their pursuit of justice,” Blumenthal said in a press release Wednesday. “Along the way, there were many who told us that we could never pass this legislation because its opponents were too big and too entrenched. They said the sex trafficking survivors were too powerless and too invisible.
“Well, we’ve met those survivors, and we know their courage and strength – they are the reason that we are here today.”
Erin Williamson, director of Love 146’s U.S. Survivor Care Program, called the news of the bill’s passage “tremendous” for those who care about children.
“This has huge implications: It not only holds websites and apps accountable for knowingly collaborating with traffickers, but it is a powerful tool for survivors of trafficking and exploitation who are seeking justice,” Williamson stated in a press release Wednesday. “Love146 has provided services to over 300 youth in Connecticut who have been identified as suspected and confirmed victims of child sex trafficking. Many of those youth have said their exploitation was made possible because of the Internet.”