Statement by Dawn Hawkins, Executive Director of NCOSE
Washington, DC – The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has been named by the National Center on Sexual Exploitation as a top facilitator of sexual exploitation of years of the DOJ failure to enforce existing obscenity law.
“The U.S. Department of Justice has abandoned its post in the fight for freedom from sexual exploitation and violence,” said Dawn Hawkins, Executive Director of the National Center on Sexual Exploitation. “Despite being the primary federal criminal investigation and enforcement agency, the DOJ refuses to enforce existing federal obscenity laws against pornography even though these laws have been upheld by U.S. Courts and have been previously enforced. Federal law prohibits distribution of obscene, adult pornography on the Internet, on cable/satellite TV, on hotel/motel TV, in retail shops, through the mail, and by common carrier. The U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly upheld obscenity laws against First Amendment challenges because obscenity is not protected speech.”
“While the enforcers of the law have refused to do their job, pornography has become pervasive in American society. Websites, cable companies, hotels, and others openly sell pornography,” Hawkins continued. “Companies like Kink.com, Verizon, Starwood Hotels and Resorts, and Intercontinental Hotels Group sell hardcore pornography without fear of prosecution. Pornography drives the demand for sex trafficking and prostitution, and has been linked to increased rates of sexual aggression and violence. The DOJ must realize that their inaction has consequences, and that sexually exploitive material like pornography cannot be tolerated in a country that espouses principles of equality and human rights.”
To learn more, visit: https://endsexualexploitation.org/doj/
