PSA Released | Naples Daily News

Christy’s Cause Releases Public Service Announcement to Bring Awareness to Child Sex Trafficking

By Elly Hagen Marketing & Public Relations - May 10, 2016
Click here to read the article on Naples Daily News.

Christy’s Cause, a non-profit working to eradicate child sex trafficking through education, public awareness, restoration projects, and justice initiatives, announced the release of a new public service announcement (PSA). The goal of the PSA is to bring awareness to the epidemic of child sex trafficking in Southwest Florida and to direct viewers to The National Human Trafficking Hotline to report suspected child sex trafficking.

“Every year 300,000 children are at risk of becoming the victims of child sex trafficking,” said Christy Ivie, founder of Christy’s Cause. “Florida is third in the country for reported incidents of child sex trafficking and 1 of three runaways are lured or forced into sex trafficking within 48 hours of running away. We are fighting to make a difference in the lives of those who desperately need our help.”
According to The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) human sex trafficking is the most common form of modern-day slavery. Estimates place the number of its domestic and international victims in the millions, mostly females and children enslaved in the commercial sex industry for little or no money.

The terms human trafficking and sex slavery usually conjure up images of young girls beaten and abused in faraway places, but human sex trafficking and sex slavery happen locally in cities and towns, both large and small, throughout the United States, right in our backyard, according to Ivie. In March 2015 fifteen people were arrested in Collier County in a human trafficking ring that operated in Collier, Lee, Hendry, Polk and Miami-Dade counties.

The PSA was created by Old Sparky Productions. Christy’s Cause is currently seeking partners to share the announcement. To view the PSA visit www.ChristysCause.com.
To report information or suspicious activity call The National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888 or text “info” or “help” to 233733. The toll-free hotline is available to answer calls from anywhere in the country, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, every day of the year in more than 200 languages.

Christy’s Cause, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) organization launched in Estero, Florida in 2015 that is working to eradicate child sex trafficking through education, public awareness, restoration projects, and justice initiatives. Christy’s Cause collaborates with existing organizations who are providing services to victimized minors locally, nationally, and globally. Christy’s Cause works to create awareness through speaking engagements, public service announcements, social media initiatives and community events. To effectively understand issues concerning the commercial sexual exploitation of children, Christy’s Cause stays informed and educated by networking with law enforcement, state agencies, educators, health professionals, and service providers. Christy’s Cause believes that as our community becomes more knowledgeable on the issues of sex trafficking we become more powerful in fighting against this epidemic.

Click here to read the article on Naples Daily News.