In November I had the opportunity to organize the third annual Porn Kills, Jesus Saves conference at New Life Presbyterian Church. We handled a variety of topics related to the destructive nature of pornography in our culture. In my first address of the conference I made the argument that there is a clear link between sex-trafficking and pornography. There are many ways in which pornography fuels sex trafficking. Here are a few:
1. PORNOGRAPHY FUELS THE DEMAND FOR SEX TRAFFICKING.
As there is an increase in the demand for sex and in particular violent sex (which even mainstream pornography has incredible violence) the supply must increase. If people are willing to pay and pay big for it, the criminal sex-trafficking industry will continue to meet that demand. As pornography creates addicts that crave more and more the crossover into sex-trafficking becomes stronger.
2. PORNOGRAPHY USES TRAFFICKED VICTIMS.
As the industry expands it becomes difficult to know, track and verify whether or not pornography performers are trafficked victims. Which if they are underage they are necessarily considered trafficked victims (US State Dept.). This problem is not small and was evidenced by a magazine using a trafficked victim as a centerfold. If that happens in the mainstream industry we must assume that it is far more prevalent with other kinds of porn production. This blows up the myth that many would push in our culture of “ethical” porn.
3. Pornography makes violent sexual exploitation normal.
The more mainstream and normal that pornography becomes, the more that violent sexual exploitation becomes normal. Because porn producers prey on those who have been abused this reality becomes even greater. This means that sex-trafficking can easily exist right under our noses because pornography blurs the lines between violence, sex, and consent so that we become numb to the reality of exploitation.
These realities move pornography out of the realm of “free-speech” and into the realm of justice. And it moves those of us in the anti-porn camp from prudes to justice fighters.
If all this is true, why does pornography continue to expand and become normal, even celebrated in our culture?
“America wants porn more than it wants justice. ”
LETS CHANGE THAT.
If the lives of the innocent and exploited are more important than the profit of the porn industry and the sexual satisfaction of America, than lets stand up and say so. Please listen to the talk below and share it if you want to fight against this tide.
You can listen to all the audio from the conference here: