This Is How Porn And Sex Trafficking Are Linked
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To most people, sex trafficking is a problem that exists in distant, foreign countries. You may think, “But it certainly isn’t something that would involve me, is it?”
If you view pornography, then the answer is “Yes!” The truth is, porn and sex trafficking have strong links, even in the United States, which leads the world in the production and consumption of pornography.
How big is the sex trafficking problem? The University of New England reports it is the third largest criminal business in the world, behind only drug trafficking and pirating/counterfeit products. According to the DOJ, human trafficking is the world’s fastest-growing criminal enterprise.
The sex trafficking industry earns global profits of roughly $150 billion a year for traffickers, $99 billion of which comes from commercial sexual exploitation.
On April 11, 2018, the White House provided these statistics:
- Sex trafficking is a global form of modern-day slavery in which individuals are coerced to perform commercial sex acts against their will.
- Over 99 percent of trafficked individuals trapped in forced sexual exploitation are women.
- Per the International Labor Organization, 4.8 million victims were in forced sexual exploitation.
- Over 21 percent of those trafficked for sex are children.
- In Fiscal Year 2017, the Department of Homeland Security investigated 833 human trafficking cases. This resulted in 1,602 arrests and 578 convictions and identified 518 victims of human trafficking.
- Since 2007, the National Human Trafficking Hotline has received reports of 73,946 sex trafficking cases in the United States.
- Of the nearly 25,000 runaway children reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, one in seven were likely victims of child sex trafficking.
Related Article: Former President Trump Calls On Americans to Lead the Fight to End Human Trafficking
So How Is Porn Connected?
According to journalist John-Henry Westen,
“As long as America’s men are being trained to think that violent, disturbing pornography is sexually acceptable, an enormous clientele for sex traffickers is being created every day in homes, college dorms, and apartments across the nation.”
The Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) defines sex trafficking as “the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision or obtaining of a person for the purpose of a commercial sex act.” It also includes “inducing commercial sex acts by force, fraud or coercion.”
A “commercial sex act” means “any sex act on account of which anything of value is given to or received by any person.” Since porn performers are given money and other items of value, the definition certainly applies to the porn industry.
Related Article: Florida First State In the Nation to Teach K-12 Child Trafficking Prevention
But are porn performers coerced or induced by force or fraud? Aren’t all the scenes done by consenting adults?
One former porn actress testified,
“Women are lured in, coerced and forced to do sex acts they never agreed to do… [and given] drugs and alcohol to help get [them] through hardcore scenes…The porn industry is modern-day slavery.”
In 2017, Polaris, a leader in the anti-sex and labor trafficking movement, analyzed more than 32,000 cases of human trafficking documented between December 2007 and December 2016 through its operation of the National Human Trafficking Hotline — one of the largest data set on human trafficking in the United States ever compiled and publicly analyzed.
Polaris’s research team analyzed the data and developed a classification system that identifies 25 types of human trafficking in the United States. In their report, pornography was listed as 1 of the 25 types of human trafficking classes.
Related Article: What The Porn Industry Doesn’t Want You To Find Out
Sex traffickers use pornography in many ways. They force their victims to watch porn to desensitize them. Even to train them in sex acts they will be forced to perform. They also video-record the victims and sell and distribute pornographic films on the internet and other outlets.
Related Article: Senator Asks DOJ to Investigate PornHub for Allegedly Streaming Videos of Rape Victims
“But Watching Porn Videos Doesn’t Hurt Anyone”
You may think that watching a little porn alone at home doesn’t have an impact on sex trafficking.
Dr. Mahri Irvine, Adjunct Professional Lecturer at American University, said, “I really wish that people who watch porn knew more about that. Because I think they believe that they’re engaging in this activity in a very passive way. And they’re like, ‘Oh, I’m doing it in the privacy of my own home and this is just a video that I’m watching’. And they’re not associating it with the fact that pornography is very often the filmed rape of sex trafficking victims.”
Noel Bouché, Executive Director of pureHOPE, explained, “While pornographic content includes trafficked victims from around the world, porn consumers aren’t told anything about the performers, including which ones may have been trafficked from an early age. Regular users of internet pornography are likely consuming pornography that includes adult and child victims of sex trafficking.”
Related Article: 109 Women & 45 Kids Rescued in Anti-Human Trafficking Operation
On Redeeming Love’s blog, Katie Tomkiewicz summarized, “Various studies show that when pornographic content is viewed, the viewer’s mind becomes increasingly calloused to the brutalities of the sex-trafficking industry, which include rape, coercion, sexual violence, and the general idea that women are objects existing for the purpose of providing sexual pleasure.”
She continued,
“The psychological effects that pornography has on the mind cannot be denied; the harm done to both the viewer and the viewed cannot be denied. It is critical to address today’s pornographic culture for what it is: a hub for sex-trafficking and a gateway drug for future pimps and johns.”
There Is Freedom
Perhaps you were not aware that pornography and sex trafficking were so closely linked. You certainly thought your porn habit was a harmless pastime that didn’t affect anybody.
But now you know. And it’s not just sex trafficking victims that are impacted by porn viewing.
Pornography viewing affects you, your family, your friends, and all areas of your life. Above all, it also affects your relationship with God.
But you can be free from your slavery to porn.
Related Article: Addiction: It Doesn’t Have To Be This Way
The Conquer Series is a powerful small group resource that is helping millions of men around the world to break their porn addiction. Each lesson is packed with dramatic action, challenging testimonies and solid Biblical teaching.
To get the most out of the course, individuals should use the interactive study guide and online journals that are available through the digital pass.
Don’t delay! Sign up for digital access and being your journey to freedom today!