New York City, N.Y., May 1, 2017 / 09:59 am
Editor's note: Some readers may find the content of this article and video disturbing.
In a deeply emotional speech in New York, award winning actress Blake Lively shone a spotlight on the crisis of child pornography, calling for greater awareness and resources to fight the epidemic.
"Sexual exploitation of children is something that isn't happening rarely, it's not happening worlds away," she said. "It's happening right here and right now."
Lively was among Variety's 2017 Power of Women: New York honorees. She used her April 21 speech to draw attention to the Child Rescue Coalition, a group that helps identify IP addresses that are trading child pornography, and gives that information to law enforcement.