TOGETHER TO END

Abuse, Exploitation and Human Trafficking on a global scale

As seen on

50 Million People
people are estimated to be in modern slavery
(Source: ILO)
71%
of trafficking victims around the world are women and girls
(Source: ILO)
1/3
nearly one third of children account for identified trafficking victims globally
(Source: UNICEF & ICAT)
$150 Billion
is what human trafficking earns globally a year for traffickers
(Source: ILO)
TRIPLED
The share of children among detected trafficking victims has tripled, while the share of boys has increased five times over the past 15 years.
(Source: UNODC Human Trafficking FAQs)
WHO WE ARE
ITS A PENALTY
It’s a Penalty works collaboratively to end human trafficking, exploitation and abuse. We harness the power of sport and run global and local educational and awareness Campaigns during major sporting events highlighting penalties for offenders, the signs to look out for, and how to make a report. Working in partnership with the sports, travel & tourism industry, NGO’s and law enforcers, the campaigns are contextualized in the host cities and countries.

It’s a Penalty has so far run 13 Campaigns including during the Olympic & Paralympic Games, the NFL Super Bowls, Hong Kong Rugby 7’s and the Commonwealth Games, reaching a potential 1.6 billion people.

Alongside the Campaigns It’s a Penalty has three other programmes including CommonProtect, which advocates for legal reform to improve protection from sexual exploitation and abuse for children throughout the Commonwealth countries; Student Ambassador Programme which educates and empowers UK university students to prevent human trafficking and exploitation; and, together with NCMEC, we co-lead Safe to Compete, a programme that trains sports coaches and parents of children in Little Leagues in the USA to prevent abuse.
Download our 2023-2025 strategy
Helping end abuse, exploitation and human trafficking.
VIEW OUR STRATEGY
WHAT WE DO
OUR IMPACT
2022 Qatar World Cup Digital Capaign Impact Report
It's a Penalty and STOP THE TRAFFIK came together to run a digital campaign geotargeting football fans attending the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
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158,656 unique link clicks to the digital campaign
1,044,357 reach
68% confirmed they will start taking preventative action as a result of the campaign
2022 Birmingham Campaign Impact Report
Throughout the Commonwealth, modern slavery takes many forms. Most commonly, people are exploited through forced labour, commercial sexual exploitation of children, human trafficking, the worst forms of child labour, and forced marriage.
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22 missing people appealed for were found safe and well during the campaign period
Digital posters displayed in 5 stations throughout Birmingham reached a potential 7,154,495 people
93% of respondents felt it's a penalty improved their awareness of the issues of abuse, exploitation and human trafficking
2022 LA Super Bowl LVI Campaign Impact Report
California consistently has the highest human trafficking rates in the United States.

On the 26th of January 2022 we launched our Campaign in Downtown Los Angeles. Together with 19 partners during our campaign...
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14 missing children were identified
8 minors who were being sexually exploited in Los Angeles were rescued
20% increase in reports to the US Human Trafficking Hotline number
Tokyo Games 2020 Campaign Impact Report
37,000+people live in conditions of modern slavery in Japan. (Global Slavery Index, 2018)
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500 students in five schools throughout Tokyo received campaign materials with the hotline number
2,800 employees at Narita airport were shown the signs of human trafficking, abuse and exploitation from our campaign poster and film which was translated to Japanese and displayed throughout their workplace
90% of respondents felt that It’s a Penalty Tokyo Campaign increased their confidence or likeliness to report suspected cases of exploitation and trafficking
WHAT WE DO
OUR PROGRAMS
Student Activists
Our Student Ambassador Programme works with UK university students. We provide training on the different types, vulnerabilities and complexities of modern slavery and support students to carry out projects that make a difference.
Advocating for legal reform
Through our programme Commonprotect, we advocate for legal reform in order to protect children from sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA) throughout the Commonwealth.
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Keeping kids safe in sport
Safe to Compete is a national initiative between It's a Penalty and The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) to prevent abuse, exploitation and trafficking of young children as they learn to compete in youth sports.
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Our Ambassadors
Meet the high-profile Ambassadors who help us to deliver our campaign messages.
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PARTNERS