IEMPATHIZE
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Mission Statement
The mission of iEmpathize is to eradicate child exploitation, and engage culture in creative solutions. We use an array of film, photography, and artifacts in our programs to instill empathy into culture. We believe that an empathetic society is engaged, vigilant, and does everything they can to protect vulnerable kids.
About This Cause
In 2008, Brad Riley travelled to SE Asia to visit anti-human trafficking projects he was funding. While there, a young boy propositioned him for oral sex. Brad declined, but then watched a Westerner being led into a brothel by the same boy. Brad stood there tormented by the enslavement of this child and countless others, and committed his life’s work to stopping this crime. He began iEmpathize upon returning to the U.S. iEmpathize’s mission is to eradicate child exploitation, and we believe the only way to accomplish this is by inspiring an empathetic response from culture. Our media campaigns and other programs instill empathy in key sectors of society that naturally intersect with the issue. Our goal is to empower sectors of society that naturally cross paths (often unknowingly) with vulnerable, and victimized children. Our programs educate individuals at these intersections to recognize vulnerabilities and victimization, and empower them to employ a proper response to help the kids they encounter. Initially, iEmpathize's work focused on SE Asia and Russia. We still support projects in those countries, but have transitioned our primary focus to the United States and Mexico as more evidence has been found that we are struggling with this issue just as much as other parts of the world. There are many anti-trafficking organizations combatting this crisis, but there remain gaps and inefficiencies that hinder overall success. iEmpathize has recognized these gaps and has responded by operating in each area required to effectively respond to this issue: prevention, intervention, aftercare, and advocacy. Instead of duplicating others’ work, they seek out innovative grassroots efforts that have proven to be effective and form partnerships where their media expertise and experiential knowledge can help strengthen and expand their impact. To ensure a comprehensive response, iEmpathize develops internal solutions when gaps in coverage are identified. Our ongoing successes include the following: We partnered with another anti-trafficking organization, and developed a media-based training program to educate truckers in the United States how to recognize exploited women and children that they often encountered on their routes. The U.S. trucking industry has come behind this effort wholeheartedly and it is now the fastest growing demographic reporting credible tips into the national human trafficking hotline! iEmpathize created targeted media campaigns for a former congresswoman in Mexico. She used our media to help pass the very first legislation against human trafficking in all of Mexico! Our Empower Youth Program focuses on teaching high school kids how to navigate their vulnerabilities safely. Thus far over 3,000 kids have been empowered to take control of their lives, and a new version of this program will launch in the Fall of 2014. This new version will allow us to scale the number of kids we reach exponentially! iEmpathize has created a campaign called Boom to educate regions experiencing, or about to experience, an oil or gas boom. These areas are proven to experience an increased amount of crime, exploitation, and human trafficking. Our Boom program comprehensively educates each segment of a community how to appropriately prevent, and respond to, these threats. We recently filmed Norma Bastidas, an ultra-athlete and survivor of sexual violence, as she completed the world's longest triathlon. She swam in the Gulf of Mexico near Cancun, biked through Mexico City and into the United States, and ran from Georgia to the finish line of her epic journey in Washington D.C. We will be releasing the "Be Relentless" documentary in early 2015. This bi-national film will inspire individuals to act in response to exploitation. Norma's feat is extraordinary, but we can all do something reasonable to combat this crime! The proceeds from this film will be used to sponsor scholarships for survivors.