It’s A Penalty Launch 10th anti-trafficking campaign
January 14, 2022
January is National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month in the US, with January 11 recognized as National Human Trafficking Awareness Day. In recognition, 2019 Beyond Sport Global Award shortlisters, It’s A Penalty kicked off its tenth global human trafficking awareness campaign ahead of the NFL's Super Bowl LVI (February 13, Inglewood, California). The campaign focuses on harnessing sport to prevent abuse exploitation and human trafficking.
For the first time, It’s A Penalty will have a booth at the Super Bowl Experience that will air the campaign film featuring campaign ambassadors and NFL Players, Johnny Hekker, Chris Godwin and Aaron Rodgers. Other campaign activities include an American Airlines inflight film on the subject, local reporting hotlines advertised on 2,500 Uber cars and training in six hotels in the Los Angeles area.
According to California Against Slavery, human trafficking is a major issue in Los Angeles where children as young as 12 are being exploited. The nonprofit states that areas of tourism and the adult entertainment industry in California have become a highly accessible environment for traffickers.
The US Department of State estimates that as many as 24.9 million adults and children are trapped in some form of human trafficking around the world. In a year when everything from crime to commerce saw dramatic shifts, reports of human trafficking were most notable in 2020 for their consistency. According to Polaris' analysis of the US National Human Trafficking Hotline data, there were over 16,000 trafficking victims recognized and a significant 22% increase in recruitment.
It’s A Penalty has been working to eradicate and decrease the rates of human trafficking, both in the US and globally since 2014. To date, the organization has run global anti-trafficking awareness campaigns during 12 major sporting events, including the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, the 2016 Rio Olympics and Paralympics, the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics and four Super Bowls, with the 2021 Super Bowl LV in Tampa impacting an average of 180 million people worldwide.
With the vision for a world where every child and vulnerable person, regardless of gender, nationality, sexuality, religion or ethnicity, the organization hopes to protect children and adults from abuse, exploitation and human trafficking.
The fundamental elements of It’s A Penalty’s global campaigns educate, equip and encourage people around the world to understand the signs of exploitation and abuse, know how to report it and to support and look out for one another.
“If we are serious about building a safer world for all, whilst giving voice to victims of these crimes, prevention needs to be at the top of the agendas of Governments, and the Private and Public sectors. By preventing these crimes, we are fulfilling part of our responsibility to protect the world’s most vulnerable from violence,” said Sarah de Carvalho MBE, CEO of It’s A Penalty.
It’s A Penalty was a 2019 Beyond Sport Global Award Shortlister for the Sport for Peace and Social Justice Award.