Disclaimer: Fight the New Drug is a non-religious and non-legislative awareness and education organization. Some of the issues discussed in the following article are legislatively-affiliated. Though our organization is non-legislative, we fully support the regulation of already illegal forms of pornography and sexual exploitation, including the fight against sex trafficking.
At the beginning of the year, our good friends over at the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) officially announced their 2016 ‘Dirty Dozen List’, a who’s who compilation of leading contributors to sexual exploitation in America. The list highlights major companies and other organizations that are directly choosing to profit off pornography and other forms of sexual exploitation.
The Washington D.C.-based nonprofit gives the public an explanation of how these major companies contribute to sexual exploitation, and then lists actions that we can take in order to persuade the ‘Dirty Dozen’ to change their policies and practices. Each year, the list pressures companies to remove sexual exploitation from their bottom line. Past successes from this list include Hilton Hotels removing porn from their hotel rooms and getting blinders put on Cosmopolitan magazines in grocery stores. One of the biggest successes in the history of the ‘Dirty Dozen’ was in the summer of 2014 when Google met with the NCOSE and responded to being on the list by making the huge decision of no longer allowing porn sites to advertise using Google AdWords.
This year’s list has included some culprits that have been on the page for consecutive years and have yet to make changes. Most notably, Backpage.com is on the list for the third year running. The free classifieds website reportedly brings in an astonishing 80% of all prostitution advertising dollars on the internet, and many cases of sex trafficking involving children are directly related to the posting of ads on the “adult” section of the website.
Curious to see who is on the list this year? Here are the heavy hitters who are contributing to sexual exploitation in our country right now:
American Library Association – For years, ALA has encouraged public libraries to keep all computers unfiltered, thus allowing any and all patrons, which includes children, to be able to access porn. As a result, child sexual abuse, sexual assault, exhibitionism, stalking and other lewd behavior takes place in public libraries across the country.
Backpage.com – Backpage.com is the leading U.S. website for prostitution advertising, generating nearly 80 percent of all the online prostitution advertising revenue on the web. Law enforcement officials say trafficked children and women are sold on Backpage daily and the site is even actively opposing laws that make it a felony to advertise sexual services of children.
Department of Justice – Federal law prohibits the distribution of obscene adult pornography on the internet, on cable/satellite TV, on hotel/motel TV, in retail shops, and through the mail. The U.S. Supreme Court has also repeatedly upheld obscenity laws, explaining that obscenity is not free speech. Despite all this, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) refuses to enforce existing federal obscenity laws. In 2011, former Attorney General Eric Holder discontinued the Obscenity Prosecution Task Force.
Sexpresso Cafes – These new coffee stands originated in Seattle and are known for one thing—young women in pasties, lingerie or bikinis serving coffee to customers. The pornified working conditions result in frequent sexual harassment of staff. By using sexual objectification as its main draw for business, “Sexpresso” cafes bring a strip club atmosphere to the neighborhood coffee shop.
Verizon – Verizon profits from sexual exploitation by pushing pornography into homes through multiple ways, including pay-per-view movies and dedicated porn channels on their FIOS TV. their internet service, and as a wireless carrier. As the largest U.S. wireless communications service provider, Verizon has even defended their decision to offer incest, child, and trafficking-themed pornography as a benefit to their costumers.
For the full Dirty Dozen List you can check it out on the NCOSE’s official website.