We all know that Blake Lively is a devoted mother to her two children with husband Ryan Reynolds, but it seems her motherly instincts extend to her activism, too.
In Variety’s 'Power of Women NY' issue, out this month, the 29-year-old has opened up about her work with the Child Rescue Coalition. This organisation’s aim is to protect children who are victims of online pornography.
Child Rescue Coalition is currently promoting new technology that flags the IP addresses of people who share and download explicit images of minors.
Blake – who is mum to two-year-old James, and six-month-old Ines – first learned about the important work of the Child Rescue Coalition at a L’Oreal event (she's an ambassador for the beauty brand), and decided to commit herself to their vision of ‘protecting the innocent’.
In her interview with Variety, Age of Adeline star Blake said: “There are millions of files all over the world being traded every single day, of child pornography. It’s so disturbing. A lot of these people are fathers.”
Right now, the organisation is doing its best to convince internet providers to block users from sharing child pornography, and the results so far are impressive: they have had a significant hand in the arrest of around 9,000 predators, and the rescue of over 2,000 children from active abuse.
Blake is the latest celebrity to speak out to protect some of the most vulnerable in our society.
On another end of the scale, actresses Jennifer Garner and Kristen Bell were instrumental in bringing about laws to protect the children of celebrities from paparazzi.
Garner once summed up the struggle of being a ‘celebrity parent’ for her three young children, saying: “There’s an idea that because our pictures are everywhere, that we are complicit in it. When, really, what happens is they’re waiting outside our door every single day.
“My kids take karate, for example, and we have our classes at the same time every week. So, the guys know when we have karate, and so 20 of them wait there for us, every single class. So, that’s a lot of energy coming at little, little kids.”
Senate Bill 606 was passed three years ago, increasing possible punishment for the harassment of celebrity kids.
It’s so inspiring and refreshing to see these empowered actresses speaking out to make a difference for children.
