Statement by Dani Bianculli, Executive Director of NCOSE’s Law Center
Washington, DC – A resolution introduced in the Utah State Legislature seeks to declare pornography a “public health hazard” and urges education and policy changes to battle it. The National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) commends this historic resolution and its call for policy changes, education, prevention, and research.
“For the sexual health of future generations, it is vitally necessary that the Utah State Legislature officially recognize pornography as a public health crisis,” said Dani Bianculli, Executive Director of the National Center on Sexual Exploitation’s Law Center. “Research has shown that pornography is linked to child exploitation, increased use of prostituted persons, increased sexual violence, and to porn-induced sexual dysfunction. In addition, pornography promotes messages of gender inequality through its portrayal of violence against women as something that is considered ‘sexy’ or enjoyable.”
“The distribution of hardcore pornography, otherwise known as obscenity, is illegal under federal laws that are not currently being enforced,” Bianculli continued. “The Department of Justice has essentially failed to enforce these laws in the last decade which has lead to pornography’s pervasive presence in America today. In this modern age, it is an impossible task to protect one’s children or family from exposure to, or from the societal effects of, pornography, which is why it is vitally necessary that it be formally recognized as a public health crisis.”
