January 31, 2020
Ahead of this weekend’s Super Bowl in Miami, It’s a Penalty and the NFL are once again collaborating on an awareness campaign which harnesses the power of sport to prevent abuse, exploitation and trafficking.
Launched in collaboration with founding partner, A21, the 2020 campaign aims to inform people how to identify exploitation and trafficking, and also how to take action and report these breaches of freedom.
Since 2014, It's a Penalty has been working to disrupt human trafficking and exploitation. As well as provide people with the tools to protect those who have been exploited or trafficked - working to prevent people from becoming victims in the first place.
The 2020 campaign is supported by renowned American Football players like Aaron Rodgers, Nick Foles, Ryan Tannehill, Andy Dalton, Charles Harris and Jerome Baker. Each of the high-profile athletes helped raise awareness through a 30-second campaign video to be shown in-flight by American Airlines and British Airways on inbound flights to Miami with the potential to educate 39.2 million people worldwide. The film will also air in Miami International Airport terminal for the entire month of January, along with being broadcast on some of the top television networks spanning across sports, news and lifestyle.
"This campaign is designed to progress us towards our and our partners' goal to eradicate abuse, exploitation and trafficking globally by 2030 together. We know from previous campaigns just how impactful they can be – including our largest yet in 2018 which reported that 81% of people felt more equipped to report human trafficking and exploitation after being exposed to the campaign," said CEO of It’s A Penalty, Sarah Carvalho.
“The best approach to comprehensively address this issue is through partnerships across all levels of government and industry. That’s why I’m proud to join the hotel industry and prevention partners ahead of the Super Bowl as we unite efforts around our shared mission of ending trafficking,” said Florida Attorney General, Ashley Moody.
Moody also attended a half-day summit that was held on January 9, in an effort to help spot and stop traffickers who exploit the travel and tourism industry. The event highlighted pivotal partnerships with law enforcement and effective tools that have been implemented to reduce the number of incidents of trafficking in hotels.
Additional campaign activities also included the distribution of awareness kits to over 300 Miami hotels and training of Hilton’s hotel staff and management on how to stop human trafficking across 60+ hotels.
It’s a Penalty are two-time Beyond Sport Global Award Shortlisters. To find out more about our Global Awards and how we support organizations using sport to address the Global Goals, click here.