In January/February 2020, we delivered our most impactful campaign yet, reaching a phenomenal 378.1 million people worldwide, as well as distributing a staggering 170,000 informative campaign materials through volunteer outreach on-the-ground in Miami. We believe that it is only by working together in partnership and collaboration that we can have such incredible impact and contribute towards the elimination of human trafficking and exploitation on a worldwide scale.

On the 9th of January, It’s a Penalty launched our eighth global Campaign, in the run up to and during the 2020 Super Bowl in Miami, Florida. The Campaign was launched at an event in Miami hosted by our partners AHLA (American Hotel & Lodging Association) and FRLA, as part of No Room for Trafficking in collaboration with It’s a Penalty Founding Partner, A21, alongside major partners like N2GIVES, Malouf Foundation, Intercontinental Hotel Group, Hilton Hotels and Uber.

To maximize our impact in Miami, we also joined forces with local and international organizations such as the Miami International Airport, the Women’s Fund Miami-Dade, the Super Bowl host committee and the NFL, the Miami Dolphins, the Office of Miami-Dade State Attorney, Katherine Fernandez Rundle, law enforcers including local, state and federal agencies including the U.S Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, HSI, FBI, federal and local trafficking task forces. Miami Chamber of Commerce, Atlantic Broadband, End It Movement, Sysdoc, Hope for Freedom, SOAP, IJM and Forever Young Foundation.

Human trafficking is a major issue in Miami and the U.S. :

Children as young as 12 are being sold for sex in the U.S. In Miami, there are documented cases of children sex trafficking as young as 13
More than 100,000 children are sold for sex in the U.S. each year
83% of sex trafficking victims in the U.S. are U.S. citizens
Miami has the fourth highest rate of calls per capita made to the National Human Trafficking Hotline in 2017 (Polaris);
Florida as a state has the third highest rate of human trafficking cases reported (Polaris)

Human trafficking is a major issue in Miami and the U.S. :

Children as young as 12 years old are being sold for sex in the U.S. In Miami, there are documented cases of children sex trafficking as young as 13-years old
More than 100,000 children are sold for sex in the U.S. each year
83% of sex trafficking victims in the U.S. are U.S. citizens
Miami has the fourth highest rate of calls per capita made to the National Human Trafficking Hotline in 2017 (Polaris);
Florida as a state has the third highest rate of human trafficking cases reported (Polaris)

IN 2020, OUR 30-SEC GLOBAL CAMPAIGN FILM FEATURING AMERICAN FOOTBALL ICONS WAS shown in-flight by American Airlines, British Airways, and on screens at Miami International Airport, as well as seen by millions across social media.

Please watch below and share!

Campaign reach: 378.1 million people globally

CAMPAIGN IMPACT

SURVIVORS RECOVERED

  • 22 rescues of survivors and 47 arrests of traffickers (Miami-Dade State Attorney)
  • 4 children were identified from the NCMEC mission children’s list in Miami through the It’s a Penalty/SOAP hotel outreach day

REPORTS

  • 163% increase of calls reporting human trafficking in Miami made to the National Human Trafficking Hotline (Polaris) compared to same time period in the previous year.

FILM

  • 19.3 million passengers reached on American Airlines and British Airways flights by the It’s a Penalty campaign film shown in-flight from January-February 2020
  • 541,933 potential viewers reached through Atlantic Broadband on 600 TV cable spots: A&E, AMC, ANIMAL, BET, BRAVO, COMEDY,CNBC, CNN, Discovery, ESPN, ESPN2, E!, ABC Family, FOOD, FSFL, FX, Fox News, GOLF, Hallmark,HGTV, History, HLN, Lifetime, MSNBC, MTV, NICK, SYFY, SPIKE, SUN, TBS, TLC, TNT, CARTOON,TRAVEL, TRU, TVLAND, TWC
  • 4.2 million travellers potentially exposed to the campaign film shown at Miami International Airport throughout January

CAMPAIGN LAUNCH

  • 338 million reached through media coverage in print and on TV at the It’s a Penalty 2020 Miami Campaign Launch, hosted by our partners AHLA (American Hotel & Lodging Association) as part of their ‘NO ROOM FOR TRAFFICKING’ campaign.

PRINT MEDIA

  • 16 million passengers potentially exposed to the full-page It’s a Penalty 2020 Campaign ad in American Way, American Airlines’ in-flight magazine

HOTELS

  • Intercontinental Hotel Group – 40+ IHG Hotels trained their staff to spot human trafficking and displayed and distributed thousands of campaign materials – lip balms, wristbands, posters, leaflets, business cards in English, Spanish and Creole with the signs to look out for and reporting hotline information – to their guests in the run up to and during the Super Bowl!
  • Hilton Hotel – 60+ Hilton Hotels trained staff and management in Miami and Fort Lauderdale to spot human trafficking and exploitation, and distributed campaign materials to guests

RIDESHARES/TAXIS

  • Uber provided 3 training sessions in English & Spanish to hundreds of drivers and staff
  • 5,000 It’s a Penalty rear-view mirror hang tags were displayed inside Uber cars, and campaign wristbands with reporting hotline information were distributed to drivers

VOLUNTEERS

  • On 25th January 2020 – the weekend before the Super Bowl – over 500 volunteers, including survivors of human trafficking, packed 145,000 It’s a Penalty posters, leaflets, business cards in English, Spanish and Creole, 7,000 wristbands, 15,000 lip balms and 30,000 The S.O.A.P Project soaps and 80,000 face wipes into information kits.
  • These campaign materials featured reporting hotlines and signs to look out for, as well as a list of missing children in Miami from NCMEC, and were delivered by teams of volunteers to over 400 hotels and motels in the Miami area.
  • To organize this impressive event, It’s a Penalty partnered with The S.O.A.P Project, as well as Founding Partner A21, Voices for Children Foundation, Hilton, InterContinental Hotel Group, IJM, and Hope for Freedom. The event consisted of two locations of volunteers, with It’s a Penalty and A21 at a school and SOAP with YWCA in their center.

Testimonials

“The hospitality and hotel industry has an important role to play in combatting human trafficking,” said John Kelley, regional vice president of operations, IHG. “As our hotel teams in and around Miami prepared to serve thousands of additional guests during one of the largest professional sporting events in the world, the partnership with It’s a Penalty was a great way to increase awareness around this important issue, underscore our commitment to fighting this crime and supplement the tools and information we provide to colleagues to help them spot signs of potential human trafficking.”

Super Bowl 2020 Campaign highlights video – watch to understand how we work!

FOUNDING PARTNER

HEADLINE PARTNER

SUPPORTING PARTNERS

FRIENDS

PARTICIPATING AIRLINES