Amnesty for Pimps?

Help Wanted. No experience required. Training provided. Minorities are encouraged. Job location: various, and may include cars, alleys, motels, and flop houses. Schedule: at the discretion of manager. Dress: whatever the client requests. For outdoor assignments: Comfortable clothing and shoes appropriate for running should be worn.  Weapons carried should be relegated to those which cannot be taken from you. Compensation: 100% of profits will be paid to manager. Potential work hazards: abuse, violence, rape, drug addiction, and/or death may occur.

Amnesty International has long been known as an organization in defense of human rights—an advocate for the vulnerable, those whose lives are at stake, and people in need of refuge. In essence, their push has been to free those enslaved by moral injustice. In an ironic twist of policy, Amnesty International is now calling for a sweeping international decriminalization of prostitution, allowing pimps free rein (and reign) and increasing the victimization of women.   

Yes, this is hard to believe, in light of Amnesty International’s long track record of good work. This movement stems from a misguided belief that legalizing the sex trade protects vulnerable people, and that prostitution is “sex work” and a legitimate occupation.

But studies show that normalizing the sex industry does not protect women and children. In fact, it only serves to increase sex trafficking and sexual exploitation. This can be seen in countries where prostitution has been legalized. Even Amsterdam has pared back their red light district. Women are not lining up to fill “sex worker” positions. In reply to this reduction of supply, young women are trafficked from Asia and Africa (where poverty dictates desperation and begets exploitation) into cities like Amsterdam and Sydney for the purpose of forced prostitution.

A recent Chicago study shows that 50% of women prostituted through escort services have been raped. 21% of women prostituting within their homes have been raped ten or more times. If these women who are prostituting voluntarily (assumedly) are raped and abused with such regularity, higher statistics may only be expected within the violent underworld of street prostitution.

Many have asked over the years why there can’t be union oversight and government regulation. Wouldn’t that curb these numbers? When a practice is entirely based on violence, abuse, and exploitation, what is there to unionize? Better rates for being raped? Cushier digs in which to be beaten and violated with foreign objects? No. This will simply force exploited women into deeper shadows of shame and allow the abuse to continue under the guise of regulation.

Although the victimized and prostituted person shouldn’t be criminalized, those who victimize and prostitute them should. The men and women who prostitute vulnerable people are often directly connected to organized crime and other illegal activities. These are not promising and enterprising young men and women with business acumen; they are traffickers, exploiters, and criminals.

One final note in address to Amnesty International’s push to decriminalize prostitution. Historically, Amnesty International has fought for the release of prisoners of war. POW torture takes many forms. One of these methods includes isolation of the prisoner while subjecting them to severe discomfort. Sometimes the prisoner is not allowed to sleep, thereby causing disorientation and anxiety. This deprivation is then tempered by the occasional treat, supplied by the captor, creating a Stockholm Syndrome-type of attachment. 

This is exactly what pimps do.

Don’t be fooled. Pimps do not deserve amnesty.

Take Action

There is something you can do.

I’m honored that one of my best friends, Lisa Thompson, is the Vice President of Education and Outreach for the National Center on Sexual Exploitation. All of the information I have provided above comes directly from them. You can access their website here. 

As one of their many projects, NCOSE is organizing an outcry against AI’s move to decriminalize prostitution. On their website, they list several ways you can help through e-mail, Twitter, and Facebook. You can check out the movement and the website here.

The only true answer to the violence and exploitation of prostitution is to abolish it.

Connections Between Porn and Infidelity

 

With the proliferation of news this week about AshleyMadison and the notorious list leak of cheating spouses, there are a lot of folks out there in disbelief at some of the names on that list. Celebrities, prominent business figures, and lots of average joes and janes. So it kind of makes you wonder—what on earth is with all of the cheating spouses?

Obviously some people cheat on their spouse because they meet someone who fills a void, or they fall in love with another person, but statistically speaking, cheating increases exponentially with the use of pornography. Research cited in an article by National Center on Sexual Exploitation and conducted by Dr. Jill Manning concluded that in the case of 56% of divorcing couples, heavy porn use is involved in the split.* Dr. Manning testified to this fact before the U.S. Senate in 2004, so we can probably assume that number is even higher 11 years later. AshleyMadison capitalized on the men and women involved in pornography by advertising their services on pornographic websites.

From a marketing standpoint it makes perfect sense. That is their target audience. These days there is an epidemic of men (and an alarming increase in number of women) who are incapable of committing to lasting relationships. Scientific evidence shows that the brain chemistry is altered by the use of pornography. The dopamine high is addictive and larger and larger doses are needed. It can also produce a delusional effect where the person thinks there is an unlimited amount of sexy, hot people out there just waiting to do all manner of the 'wild thing' with them. When their partners balk at such activities, they look to the illicit affair to fulfill the desires.

According to another article based out of Arkansas, the release of the AshleyMadison list is, as you can imagine, greatly affecting marriage counselors who are suddenly inundated with clients. Sex addiction is another factor in this whole ball of yarn that counselors must deal with—but again, sex addiction usually goes hand-in-hand with pornography use, and sites like AshleyMadison feed both of those addictions in spades.

If you want to check out Haley Halverson’s article on the connection between cheaing spouses and pornography click here.

To check out the article on Arkansas marital counselors and the effect all of this is having on them, click here.

 

*Halverson, Haley. Why Do People Cheat? The Link Between Ashley Madison and Pornography. National Center on Sexual Exploitation. 26 August 2015. http://endsexualexploitation.org/articles/why-do-people-cheat-the-link-between-ashleymadison-and-pornography/

*stock photo used

Cosmo Cover-up

The next time you check out at your local supermarket, you may notice Cosmopolitan magazine is no longer “baring all” for everyone to see. Cosmopolitan has always pushed the envelope in terms of their front covers, whether practically naked women or jaw-dropping article titles are emblazoned upon them. Under a recent a campaign headed up by National Center on Sexual Exploitation, many retailers agreed that these covers, flying right at the eye line of small children, did not need to be on display for all. Chains such as Rite Aid, Food Lion, Hannaford, and many others, will now cover these magazines with blinders.

 

It should be noted that NCSE is not asking Cosmo to change their covers or content; they are asking retailers to consider their shoppers and their shopper’s children. This measure would prevent minors from being forced to view pictures of women in various states of scant clothing (or in some cases no clothing with only certain parts covered by objects).

Click here to learn more about this Cosmo cover-up.

What do you think? Should Cosmo wear blinders in check-out aisles?