We just scored a big win in our fight to protect kids from online sex trafficking.
After the CEO of Backpage.com—the market leader in commercial-sex advertising—refused to obey a legal subpoena as part of my Senate investigation into online sex trafficking, Republican Senator Rob Portman of Ohio and I knew we had to keep fighting.
Together we led an historic, unanimous vote in the Senate to hold Backpage.com in contempt of Congress—something that hasn’t happened in more than 20 years—and then we took them to court… and won.
As a former prosecutor of sex crimes, I know how serious this problem is.
- In 2014, 1 in 6 runaways reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children were likely sex trafficking victims.
- In the same year, the Urban Institute estimated that the underground sex economy ranged from nearly $40 million in Denver, CO to $290 million in Atlanta, GA.
These children are being hurt and abused in our own backyards, and we have to stop it.
Watch this video on McCaskill’s crusade against Backpage.com and youth sex trafficking:
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