WASHINGTON, DC (March 21, 2025) – The National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) responded to the news that Andrew and Tristan Tate have filed a defamation lawsuit against NCOSE Vice President Eleanor Gaetan.
“This SLAPP lawsuit against a NCOSE executive is utterly without merit and an attack on her First Amendment Rights. The Tate brothers are credibly accused and charged with sex trafficking in Romania. They also face criminal charges of sexual violence in the United Kingdom where their extradition was already granted by a Romanian court. The Florida Attorney General says they are also under investigation in that state. This defamation suit is yet another intimidation tactic that is the Tate brothers’ modus operandi for silencing critics and witnesses against them. Andrew Tate publicly stated that he will use the legal system to harass dissenters and that is exactly what he is doing,” said Marcel van der Watt, President, National Center on Sexual Exploitation.
“We have advocated and filed lawsuits against the largest pornography companies in the world and have never faced this level of intimidation to silence. But we are not intimidated. NCOSE is a public advocacy organization dedicated to advocate on behalf of survivors of sexual abuse and exploitation. We will not let these accused sex traffickers, Andrew and Tristan Tate, silence us.
“We continue to stand with and pursue justice for Jane Doe and other alleged survivors of Andrew and Tristan Tate,” Van der Watt said.
NCOSE represents Jane Doe, an American citizen, who is fighting back against Andrew and Tristan Tate’s defamation lawsuit filed against her for cooperating with Romanian authorities, in a countersuit that represents the first U.S. civil case against the Tate brothers. Learn more here.
The National Center on Sexual Exploitation Law Center is available as a resource for anyone who has experienced sexual exploitation in connection with the commercial sex industry. The NCOSE Law Center has been fighting for justice for survivors who have experienced sex trafficking or abuse, and currently represents survivors of sexual exploitation in litigation against X (formerly Twitter), Pornhub, XVideos, and XHamster.
About National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE)
Founded in 1962, the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) is the leading national non-profit organization exposing the links between all forms of sexual exploitation such as child sexual abuse, prostitution, sex trafficking and the public health harms of pornography.
