A chance conversation at a L’Oreal event has put Blake Lively front and centre of the fight to stop child pornography – and track down those who produce and use it.
The actress has teamed up with global organisation Child Rescue Coalition to promote new technology that can track the IP address of anyone who “share and download sexually explicit images of minors,” Variety reports.
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Lively met Child Rescue Coalition CEO Carly Yoost at the event, and has since been vocal in her support of the organisation’s work.
“There are millions of files all over the world being traded every single day of child pornography,” she says. “It’s so disturbing. A lot of these people are fathers.”
Says Yoost of meeting Lively: “We hit it off, and we’re both passionate about protecting kids. We stayed in touch, and she really wanted to help. She got us a meeting at a technology summit at Facebook.”
Yoost’s current mission is to convince internet providers to block users from sharing child pornography, with research suggesting that 85 per cent of those who consume it have abused children.
So far, Child Rescue Coalition’s work has led to the arrest of 9000 people and rescued 2084 children from abuse across 67 countries.
After meeting Yoost, Lively shared the below post on her Instagram account, writing, “I’m deeply grateful to have spent time with Carly Yoost who – through her company – Child Rescue Coalition – has helped to arrest 8000 child predators and has saved 1900 children so far from online predators and hands-on abusers.”
“Please check out her program if you want to contribute in making the world safer for our children. It’s funded solely through charity and grants, so she needs all the help she can get.”
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