Expert Says U.S. Porn Industry Feeds International Sex Trade
by Bill Fancher and Jody Brown
June 24, 2005
(AgapePress) - An authority on the sex trade has named a United States industry as a major contributor to this modern-day form of slavery. Researcher Jeffery Satinover says America must take responsibility as a major contributor to the problem of sex trafficking around the world.Satinover says the U.S. Department of State recognizes that "the driving force behind the sex slave trade is basically pornography -- in both a direct and an indirect way." The pornography industry, he explains, "provides the emotional fuel for the international sex slave trade."
America's porn industry generates billions of dollars a year, and Satinover believes this growing business has gained a foothold due, at least in part, to law enforcement policies. Porn is recognized as a legitimate business in America, and he contends, "Its legitimacy is largely due to the fact that we aren't actually aggressively prosecuting our own obscenity laws."
Aggressive Prosecution
Pro-family advocates have been calling for more aggressive investigation and prosecution of obscenity violations for years. Many insist that the porn industry in the U.S. would change drastically if law enforcement were more rigorous and aggressive in going after the makers and distributors of pornography who violate the law.
In testimony before a Senate subcommittee in March, Patrick Trueman of the Family Research Council -- a 20-year veteran of fighting against the porn industry -- observed that pornography is "closely linked to an increase in prostitution, child prostitution, and human trafficking." His suggestion? Give federal prosecutors the freedom to pursue all violators of obscenity laws.
"People are tired of an 'anything goes' community standard and want their community to be a decent place to live," Trueman told the subcommittee. "Few prefer to live or work near a porn shop or even do their shopping near such a business. For these reasons, they do not want the Department of Justice to look the other way, especially today when the reach of pornographers is far greater than ever before because of cable and satellite TV and the Internet."
Trueman is optimistic. "It is my hope, judging from the Attorney General's recent comments, that the [Justice] Department has heard this message," he continued. "The Internet has now been in popular use for more than a dozen years. It is the primary means for distributing obscene material, and it has touched the lives of countless children who unwittingly or willingly gain access to such material."
The recently installed U.S. Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales, has vowed to go on the attack against the porn industry with the creation of an anti-obscenity task force. The Justice Department announced the Attorney General's signing of the final rule implementing the Child Protection and Obscenity Enforcement Act last month.
