WASHINGTON (WUSA9) — President Trump signed a bill today to help victims of sex trafficking. It will help hold the websites that sold them liable for the damage they've done. This has been a long fight.
When the President signed the bill, he was surrounded by people whose lives have been ripped apart or touched in some way by sex trafficking. Before he signed, he turned to Yvonne Ambrose of Illinois, and said, "This is in honor of your daughter."
Yvonne Ambrose has been pushing for this bill on behalf of her 16-year-old daughter Desiree. Yvonne told WUSA9, "That man who purchased her from Backpage, beat her, strangled her, raped her and then cut her throat. If I would have really known on what was going on on the internet, maybe I could have educated her differently, but unfortunately, she didn't make it."
Yvonne and other moms, survivors, filmmakers, and advocates have been fighting for this day. Backpage makes millions off ads like the one that sold her underage daughter. Yvonne sued Backpage, but now, it's more likely she could win.
The FBI seized Backpage's website Friday. Prosecutors have charged the site's co-founders and several others with sex trafficking charges. On the flip side, sex workers say Backpage being shut down has made them less safe.
