“No Porn November”

November is “No Porn November.” While I could write pages and pages about pornography (the BIG problem of children using porn for sex education, the significance of violence in >88% of porn scenes, the science behind addiction to porn, how traffickers use pornography to further exploit their victims, and much more), this blog post will focus on three topics: 1) The direct link between pornography and Human Trafficking, 2) Companies in recent news regarding porn, and 3) A loophole in the law allowing young children to be exposed to pornographic content in schools.

*How can I state there is a direct link between pornography and Human Trafficking? Most survivors (currently, over 200) I have met have stated:

• They were shown pornography by a buyer (men and women) to show them what they would like them to do
• Their traffickers used pornography to humiliate, shame and sell them
• They were forced to participate in the filming of pornographic content (see blog post “How can you tell if someone in a porn video is a victim of Human Trafficking?”)
• Addiction to pornography leads to needing sexual acts spouses and partners are unwilling to perform or with children. The viewer then needs to seek someone who doesn’t have a choice

*Several companies have made recent news regarding actions they have taken regarding pornography. While there is much more work to be done to protect our children and society’s most vulnerable, we applaud the following:

• Mastercard is now requiring global porn sites to strongly verify the age of the participant and documented consent prior to banks processing payments.¹
• Due to the ongoing and horrific exploitation of men, women and children on their sites, ROKU is banning Pornhub and several other adult entertainment companies from their platform as of March 1, 2022.²
• As of September 1, 2021, Google Chromebooks will finally be defaulted to safety for all children under the age of 18.³ If anyone did a Google search for “child pornography” in the past, they would have been directed to hardcore pornography sites. Google is now directing these searches to child safety organizations, news articles and legislation!⁴
• Mastercard and VISA have banned the use of their cards on Pornhub’s site.⁵

We stand with the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) in stating:

“No company should profit from child sexual abuse, rape, sex trafficking and other exploitive content on its platform.”

Sadly, much more needs to be done! For specific action steps you can take, please click here:  https://endsexualexploitation.org/issues/pornography/

*There is a loophole called the Obscenity Exemption Statute in 43 states (including Iowa) that allows children to be exposed to pornography in the name of sex education.⁶ Many parents finding out about the graphic images their young children are exposed to, are outraged and speaking out at school board meetings across the nation. Things are getting heated. One father was actually arrested for violating the “two-minute rule” when voicing his opposition to this!⁷ I testified as an expert witness in front of the Nebraska state legislature last year, in support of Senator Albrecht’s “Repeal Obscenity Exemption Statute” (ROES).⁸  Please see Nebraska’s brochure below for action steps that you can take with your school.(8)

1. https://exoduscry.com/blog/shiftingculture/after-traffickinghub-pressure-mastercard-enacts-policies-to-eliminate-porn-of-trafficking-rape-child-abuse/?goal=0_69d84f7841-231bd264fc-88220938&mc_cid=231bd264fc&mc_eid=cd617c9612
2. https://endsexualexploitation.org/articles/victory-roku-shuts-down-pornhub/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=ncose&eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=c5b46b78-d016-427a-8134-0b3eab58d16e
3. endsexualexploitation.org/…/google-defaults-chromebooks-to-safety
4. endsexualexploitation.org/…/google-search-driving-the-pornography-industrys-profits
5. theguardian.com/…/pornhub-mastercard-visa-rape-child-abuse-images
6. parentsrightsined.org/support-the-cause
7. youtube.com/watch
8. Flyer ROES in your state V7 042318

Teresa