PORNOGRAPHY & TRAFFICKING

We are passionate about educating people on the connections between Pornography and Sex Trafficking. We believe it is crucial for the general public to understand the facts behind pornography in order to fully understand those being affected by it. Below we will break down the two largest connections between Pornography and Sex Trafficking.

If you or someone you know is struggling with an addiction to Porn, please note that this is a SHAME FREE zone. We aim only to inform. Follow the link for help fighting your addiction: Get Help

PORNOGRAPHY DIRECTLY AFFECTS VICTIMS OF SEX TRAFFICKING

It was 21 days after “Jane Doe’s” 22nd birthday when she boarded a flight to San Diego that, unbeknownst to her, would change her life forever. That day, she would become one of hundreds of young women who had been filmed for GirlsDoPorn, a wildly popular porn production company which garnered well over a billion views,1 ranking around the 20th most popular channel on Pornhub,2 and reportedly generating an estimated $17 million dollars in revenue.3 But what most of GirlsDoPorn’s millions of viewers did not realize was that Jane—and many other women involved with GirlsDoPorn—was actually a victim of sex trafficking.

See, Jane never agreed to do porn at all.4 She had flown to San Diego to participate in what she was told would be a fitness modeling job. But when she arrived, she was met by several men who took her phone, intimidated her into signing a contract she wasn’t allowed to read, plied her with drugs and alcohol, and trapped her in a hotel room where they told her she would be filmed for a porn video. Even after she tried to run away, the men physically forced her to comply. With no way out, Jane was violently raped on camera for over 6 hours.

The nearly hour-long video of her abuse was then released on the GirlsDoPorn website and published on nearly every major porn site,5 even using her full legal name in the title.6 When Jane first learned that videos of her rape had been published, she ran to the bathroom and was violently sick.

Now, you might be thinking something along the lines of, Wow, that’s a really tragic story, but luckily I don’t watch porn that shows violence or nonconsensual activity, so I’m good. But let’s not forget that GirlsDoPorn was a popular and well-recognized name in the porn world, and the victims were often forced to smile and pretend they were enjoying themselves. Although the GirlsDoPorn owners were eventually charged with sex trafficking, they had millions of viewers and operated unchecked for 11 years, despite numerous victims’ desperate pleadings to have the content removed.7 As Jane put it in our interview with her about her experience, “I didn’t know if they were going to kill me. Watching the video now, I can see it in my eyes. The quivering of my lips and my voice, I know exactly how I was feeling in that moment. But to anyone else who sees it, they see what they want and they think I was complicit.”8

Related: How the Porn Industry Profits From Nonconsensual Content and Abuse

SITE: FighttheNewDrug

PORNOGRAPHY FUELS THE DEMAND SIDE OF SEX TRAFFICKING

  1. Pornography Can Lead to Abuse

Why is the sexual exploitation of men, women, boys and girls increasing at such an alarming rate? What is driving the demand for sex with children, including babies and infants?

One answer: the exponential rise in pornography, especially child pornography.

No research can be conducted that would prove direct causality between child pornography and the sexual exploitation of children. After all, who is going to conduct a double-blind study of the effects of child pornography? What can be demonstrated beyond any reasonable doubt is that:

“Soft” Pornography can ➔ Heavy Pornography (violent, torture, children, etc), which can ➔ Sexually abusing men, women, boys and girls

Over 80% of men arrested for child sexual abuse were in possession of child pornography. Almost 60% had pornographic images or videos of children under five years of age. That’s no coincidence.  People don’t normally begin by looking at images or videos of babies being sexually abused. They usually:

  • Begin with “harmless” soft-core, adult pornography

  • Move to hard-core adult porn

  • Graduate to child porn

  • Look for younger and younger children

  • Eventually, many will want to experience what they see

2. Pornography Can Be Addictive

Pornography releases powerful chemicals in the brain and body and can become addictive, more quickly addicting than many drugs such as heroin. As with all addictions, in order to get the same pleasure, more and more images are required – and in many cases, more and more deviance. Pornography is especially addictive to brains that are not fully developed and can permanently “hard wire” the brain to think and feel about sexuality in ways that are extremely harmful.

➔Abuse Can Lead to Sex Trafficking

Between 70 and 90% of sexual exploitation victims have a history of sexual abuse. In many cases the abuse is a major factor in children running away from home—which makes them an easy target for traffickers. In fact, running away increases vulnerability by 80%.

Child Pornography can ➔ Sexually Abusing Children, which can ➔ Child Sex Trafficking

SITE: SOLDNOMORE.ORG For a peer-reviewed journal article on the connection between trafficking and pornography,  CLICK HERE.