Sexual exploitation survivors call on NFL to ban Robert Kraft

BOSTON — A group representing female victims of sexual exploitation want the NFL to ban Robert Kraft from owning a team.

The New England Patriots' owner was charged last month in Florida for purchasing sex from a massage parlor near his home in Palm Beach.

The group, with National Center on Sexual Exploitation, has organized a coalition of 19 survivors and survivor-led organizations to request the National Football League ban Robert Kraft from owning a team if "investigations confirm his purchase of women for sex."

“It’s important for the NFL to recognize that those who buy people for sex engage in crimes of sexual coercion and violence,” said Lisa L. Thompson, Vice President of Policy and Research at the National Center on Sexual Exploitation. “Payment for sex is a raw manifestation of sexual coercion. Men who buy people for sex use money to gain power and exercise temporary sexual control over others—typically women and girls. Further, we know that if men stopped purchasing people for sex, there would be no sex trafficking.”

The group wrote a letter, stating:

"In light of the current criminal allegations against Mr. Kraft, the NFL's own Personal Conduct Policy, and its actions against other NFL employees who engaged in sexually harassing or exploitive activities (e.g., Ryan Murphy, Warren Sapp, Marshall Faulk, Heath Evans, Ike Taylor), at a minimum Mr. Kraft must be suspended for six games. However, assuming that the allegations against Mr. Kraft prove to be true, as explained above, the aggravating circumstances of his behavior demand his banishment from NFL team ownership. Anything less will send that signal that owners are not held to a higher standard, that their power, influence, and wealth permit them to get away with despicable actions, and that the NFL abets sexual exploitation and trafficking. 
 
We also call on the NFL to take immediate and rigorous measures to create a corporate and sport culture that respects others, by rejecting all forms of sexual objectification, harassment, assault, and exploitation of women by owners, coaches, players, team personnel, and others associated with the NFL."

MORE: Robert Kraft charged with soliciting prostitution in Florida human trafficking bust

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