Kirk Statement on Visa, Mastercard Banning Use of Credit Cards to Buy Ads Facilitating Human Trafficking

Statement

U.S. Senator Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) today released the following statement after Visa and Mastercard joined American Express in preventing their customers from using credit cards to buy adult ads on Backpage.com, which facilitates human trafficking.

"Visa, Mastercard, and American Express have all made the right decision to cut ties with Backpage, the number one human trafficker in America. The harder we make it for Backpage to help sell children online for sex, the closer we get to ending modern day slavery."

Background:

Earlier this year, Senator Kirk's bipartisan legislation to combat the sale of children for sex online, the Stop Advertising Victims of Exploitation (SAVE) Act, was signed into law as part of the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act (JVTA). The SAVE Act aggressively combats Internet sex trafficking and the selling of children under the age of 18 for sex by making it a crime for a person, such as the owner of a website, to knowingly advertise a commercial sex act with a minor. Websites like Backpage.com provide a platform for this type of sex trafficking advertising, earning more than $30 million a year from their illicit ads, and ultimately contribute to the selling and exploitation of minors.

The announcements by Visa and Mastercard this week followed a request by Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart. American Express took similar action in recent months. Senator Kirk and Sheriff Dart have partnered to stop websites like Backpage from facilitating human trafficking.

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