Anti-trafficking advocates and survivors are encouraging victims of Backpage.com — a former online marketplace that advertised the sale of sex across the country — to seek compensation for the damage the site caused them.
Survivors have until March 31 to apply for a portion of the roughly $200 million that was forfeited in 2018, after the government seized the operation. People who suffered financially or mentally because of Backpage advertisements between 2004 and 2018 are eligible, as are trafficking victims of CityXGuide, which allegedly replaced Backpage prior to being shut down in 2020.
A national network of volunteer lawyers, organized through the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, has been created to help survivors with their applications at no cost.
Audra Doody, co-executive director of the Worcester-based nonprofit Safe Exit Initiative, said she was sold on Backpage for years before she was able to exit a life of exploitation and trafficking. She applied for funding in August. Now she’s helping others get recompense for some of the pain they suffered because the site aided traffickers.
“Backpage was a huge driver. I’ve known so many women that have been on there. I know those ads will follow you around forever,’’ she said. ”The website did a lot of damage to my life. Things that I wish I never experienced and most people shouldn’t have to experience. “
Backpage.com was seen as the main driver of prostitution-related sales between 2004 and 2018, including photos of women and girls and phone numbers to connect them, often controlled by traffickers. Several top executives and leaders in the company were convicted of federal crimes and sentenced to prison for their role in the multimillion enterprise.
Yiota Souras, chief legal officer for the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, told GBH News on Monday that the settlement is the largest ever related to human trafficking. She said it won’t take away from what happened to victims, but could offer some closure or help people get treatment.
“Finally, finally, after so many years, survivors have a chance to receive some monetary relief for the victimization they suffered at the hands of Backpage,’’ she said.
Souras said since the closure of Backpage, exploitation and trafficking continues. But she said the industry is not more “splintered,” and there is no site as widely used. A link to Backpage.com now brings people to another sex site advertising “all girl cams.”
Victims who apply for the Backpage Remission Program are asked to provide documentation for what happened and prove that they had “monetary and/or behavioral health losses that were incurred as a result of the trafficking.” Under federal law, human trafficking for adults must involve “force, fraud or coercion. For people under the age of 18, a youth engaged in commercial sex acts is considered a victim of human trafficking.
Donna Gavin, former head of the human trafficking unit at the Boston Police Department, said during her tenure, most of the cases they prosecuted included local victims trafficked on Backpage.
“There were other sites at the time — and since 2018 many more have been created — but none as popular and owners so complicit after being notified of trafficking on their site,’’ she said.
Gavin said she reached out to GBH News in hopes of getting the word out that survivors have a limited time to file for funding.
“The quicker this word gets out, the sooner we can connect people with resources to do the filing and collect whatever documentation they may have,’’ she said. “It’s great for survivors to get some compensation. It allows for medical expenses and also for lost wages. It’s not everything, certainly, but it’s a start.”
