Washington, D.C. — This morning, President Trump signed H.R. 1865, the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA), into law.
Penny Nance, CEO and President of Concerned Women for America, had this to say:
“The President is standing up to Silicon Valley and standing with victims of abuse. FOSTA is the biggest anti-sex trafficking bill that has been signed into law since The Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2003. This bill closes the loophole that allowed bad-actor websites to not only knowingly facilitate prostitution and sex trafficking, but also to profit from the ads selling women and children against their will.
“Evangelical women see this as ‘caring for the least of these.’ This is a huge victory for all the victims who have been impacted by the compliance, negligence, and intentional exploitation by websites like backpage.com that allowed them to be sold and repeatedly raped. Concerned Women for America strongly supported this legislation to the point that we were able to thwart efforts by big-money media to sink the bill.
“President Trump signed this bill today, but the reality is that even before the bill was signed, it was driving change. Backpage.com, a classified ad listing service, was seized by the Department of Justice for ‘knowingly facilitating’ prostitution ads as well as covering up sexually trafficked children while publically pretending to do something about it. Not even a full day had passed after the Senate’s passage before the first website that advertised ‘adult escort’ services had been shut down.
“CWA is thankful to our friend, Rep. Ann Wagner (R-Missouri), for putting countless hours into writing this bill, working with other members, the Department of Justice, state and local law enforcement, and victims to improve this bill, and seeing it through to the end. Lives are being changed, because of her willingness to stand up for those who need an advocate. We are honored to have stood alongside her in this process and championed the cause.”
For an interview with Penny Nance contact Annabelle Rutledge at arutledge@cwfa.org or 916-792-3973.