This July 31—the day after the UN’s World Day Against Trafficking in Persons—the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that victims of human trafficking advertised on Backpage.com may apply for financial compensation.
The DOJ has over $200 million available—the assets it was able to recoup from Backpage’s half-billion-dollar empire of shame and exploitation as well as that of CityXGuide.com—amounting to the largest trafficking payout in US history. The remission process covers trafficking facilitated by Backpage from January 1, 2004, to April 6, 2018, and by CityXGuide from April 8, 2018, to June 19, 2020.
For individuals scarred by years of degradation, revisiting the past through government paperwork is no small ask.
Backpage operated for 14 years in nearly 100 countries. Before its 2018 seizure, it was involved in 73 percent of all child trafficking reports received by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). Three of its owners were sentenced to prison terms of five to 10 years. (A fourth died by his own hand shortly before trial.)
CityXGuide, for its part, generated over $21 million in illicit revenue in just two years before its owner was arrested in 2020 and sentenced to over eight years in federal prison.
The end date of Backpage and start date of CityXGuide say a lot about supply and demand in the human trafficking business, one of the fastest-growing crime industries on Earth. CityXGuide’s owner registered domain names for his sites two days after authorities shut down Backpage. These sites were wannabe Backpages, promoting brothels, pimps, prostitutes and featuring a list of “intimate activities”—complete with nude photos and contact details. Users described it as “taking over from where Backpage left off.”
Victims—a two-syllable word that doesn’t begin to communicate the unspeakable acts some endured daily, often for years—have a small window, just until February 2, 2026, to submit their petitions to the remission website.
Yet for individuals scarred by years of degradation, revisiting the past through government paperwork is no small ask. To help, NCMEC has coordinated with more than 15 law firms that are offering free assistance. These firms will help survivors navigate the petition submission process and deadlines, provide support in documentation and point them to potential resources to establish eligibility and to estimate any future medical needs.
Victims can begin by visiting the Backpage Survivor Remission Network website, filling out the very simple questionnaire and requesting help.
They may have felt alone and helpless during their ordeal.
There’s no need to feel that way now.
