Washington, DC (March 13, 2020) – The National Center on Sexual Exploitation condemned Pornhub’s offer to give Italian residents free access to its premium hardcore pornography content — which includes themes of incest, child/teen sexual abuse, and extreme violence — in response to the country’s battle with SARS-CoV-2.
“At the same time a U.S. Senator is calling on the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate Pornhub for its ‘alleged involvement in videos of women and children being raped and sex trafficked,’ Pornhub is shamelessly leveraging Italy’s tragic crisis for its own bottom line. By giving free access to its abusive and exploitative material, Pornhub is causing increased sexual violence and abuse against untold numbers of adults and children. Pornographers will increase their abuse in order to keep up with the demand Pornhub is creating and advertisers will flock to the platform in order capitalize on the abuse further,” said Dawn Hawkins, Executive Director of the National Center on Sexual Exploitation.
“To make matters worse, Pornhub requires no legitimate forms of age-verification from users who are uploading content, which means more children will be exploited.
“Research is clear that mainstream pornography, with common themes of incest, racism, and violence against women, is linked to offline sexual violence as well as other sexual harms. We urge Italians to reject Pornhub’s harmful offer.
“A battered and contracting economy in Italy will mean more people will be at risk of being forced into the commercial sex trade, either by others in their life or by thinking that it is necessary to provide for their families. Pornhub knows that demand for sexual exploitation is increasing and is unabashedly fueling this fire,” Hawkins concluded.
Read more: The Global #Traffickinghub Campaign Against Pornhub, Explained
