STRIP CLUB OUTREACH: Fort Myers, FL, Saturday, August 14th. The BFA outREACH team will be taking a home cooked meal of baked ziti, salad, bread and dessert into our local 'adopted' club. The team will also be distributing gift bags that include Christian books, beauty supplies and Julie Shematz's interview on Rod Parsley's Breakthrough entitled, Second Chance at Success. To view video, CLICK HERE

Dear Craig,

We were very disappointed by your response to AK and MC’s open letter. Craig, where is your apology? The craigslist “adult services” section has made it less risky to sell a girl online than it is to force her to walk the streets. Craig, where is your outrage that your site is being used to commit such horrible crimes? With your “adult services” section you have made it much easier for traffickers to exploit children behind closed doors. You claim criminal misuse is rare[1], however recent studies have shown that craigslist is by far the most efficient medium for advertising sex with young females; ads on your site received 3 times as many responses compared to identical ads placed on other sites.[2] We recognize that craigslist is an innovative company; we just thought you would be willing to take a more aggressive approach to protect the children in the communities you serve.

While we appreciate the work you have done so far, our argument has always been that it is simply not enough. The Rebecca Project and the girl survivors appeal to your sense of morality, and we hoped that your response would be quite different. Sex trafficking affects as many as 300,000 American children a year[3] and whether you like it or not, craigslist plays a major role in this industry.[4] We are asking you to take responsibility, ownership and adequate action for the website that bears your name. On numerous occasions you’ve cited the measures craigslist has taken to address child sex trafficking. However, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has said that there have been less than 50 reports in 2009 alone.[5] How is this possible if you are manually screening every ad on a website that boasts millions of users and billions of transactions? With craigslist operating in all 50 states and internationally, the fact that less than 50 cases have been reported illustrates that your manual screening is inadequate.

Finally, we want to remind you that real victims here are the young girls, usually between the ages of 11 and 14. The victims are underage girls and vulnerable children, lured or kidnapped from their homes by traffickers. Your website enables sex trafficking by allowing these men to sell the girls online. Your website connects the child victims to men who physically and sexually abuse the girls. This is a reality for not only AK and MC, but for hundreds of girls in the United States, Puerto Rico and Guam. Simply put, we are appalled that you are requesting the police reports from young victims as proof of their trauma. But Craig, your close relationship with law enforcement should make you well aware of these facts and we urge you to respect victim’s rights and remove your requests for police reports from your websites and blog.

Craig, if this were a bar and children were being raped in the basement we would close the bar down to protect the children. We are asking you to do what’s right, close down the adult services section until you have an effective solution that ensures children will not be bought and sold online. When asked for a comment, the President of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children told us “Craigslist has taken steps, including requiring credit card validation, screening ads, reporting suspicious ads to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, and cooperating with law enforcement investigations. Yet, American kids continue to be marketed and sold online for sex. The problem is not declining, it is growing. The goal is to end this insidious “industry.” Craigslist needs to do more, and every other online classifieds company needs to join them.”[6] Craig, please join us in fighting these criminals together and lead your industry in this fight.

[1] Jim Buckmaster, Response to AK and MC Ads, at http://blog.craigslist.org/

[2] See www.afnap.org/research/demand-study/

[3] Shared Hope International, Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking in America: Facts At-A-Glance, Shared Hope International (2007).

[4] See http://afnap.org/research/demand-study/

[5] See CNN Report at http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/08/03/craigslist.sex.ads/index.html.

[6] Letter from Ernie Allen to Malika Saada Saar on file at Rebecca Project for Human Rights.

Faiza Mathon-Mathieu, Esq.
Policy Attorney
The Rebecca Project for Human Rights
2029 P Street, NW
Suite 301
Washington, DC 20036
202-296-0099

Source: The Rebecca Project

American law enforcement agencies are being accused of not doing enough to combat the problem of child prostitution.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) in the United States estimates that between 100,000 and 300,000 American children are forced into prostitution every year - sometimes through being kidnapped near their homes.

Some are as young as 12 years old.

Asia was 17 when she was approached by a pimp in Wisconsin. She had run away from home after having problems with her family.

She said: "It was a very vulnerable time in my life and I didn't have any support.

"A pimp offered me a better life and I agreed. He posted me on the internet and men called me and I ended up selling my body and having sex for money."

The NCMEC, which focuses on finding missing children and educating the public on how to prevent child abduction and sex abuse, says many victims are runaways and homeless youths.

Others are just unlucky, grabbed off the streets by men in cars.

Asia soon realised that she had to escape after one of her clients held her hostage.

"He raped me," she said. "He made me record myself saying, 'I'm giving you permission to have sex with me'.

"He threatened to kill me, and he made me take a shower with him."

'Like commodities'
Ernie Allen, president of NCMEC, says this is an enormous problem that's not recognised enough and under-reported.

He said: "These kids are commodities for sale or trade. There is a network. They are trafficked, moved from city to city for the financial gain of those who use, abuse and control them."

The FBI and the Department of Justice (DOJ) are working together with NCMEC to combat the problem.

The DOJ claims the average age at which girls first become victims of prostitution is 13.

One of the main criticisms of the law enforcement agencies involved is that they don't always act quickly enough when it comes to reporting missing children.

Mr Allen said: "Today we know that these waiting periods and the lack of a prompt response put many children at greater risk."

Bullying allegations
One victim told Newsbeat the police treated her badly when they arrested her in Washington DC.

"There were five cops, all pointing guns at me," she said. "It was some type of drug bust and they were calling me like 'whores' and that I was just a little prostitute.

"They just assumed I was doing this on my own free will."

Newsbeat put these allegations to the police. They told us they were committed to the issue but wouldn't respond to the specific accusations of bullying and harassment.

Andrea Powell is the founder of FAIR Fund, which works to prevent child sex trafficking in America and around the world.

She deals with thousands of young girls every year who have been sold for cash and agrees that the police need to do more.

She is also critical of their tactics when they arrest the girls: "It's not enough to give these girls a hot meal and a week's stay in a shelter.

"They need comprehensive support, so we need law enforcement to have the resources and training and compassion to be able to identify these kids as victims and not perpetrators."

'Sold' online
The internet has made business easier for pimps.

Instead of just parading kids on the streets they are also selling them online from the privacy of their homes. It's what happened to Asia.

Fair Fund and NCMEC want more stringent rules in place when it comes to US sites accepting adverts offering sexual services.

Asia's advice to anyone going through what she experienced is keep fighting.

"There is a way out," she said. "You have to find the courage within yourself because you're either going to end up in jail or dead."

Source: BBC Newsbeat

Justice Department's 'New Strategy' to Curb Sexual Exploitation of Children Ignores the Elephant in the Room -- Namely, Hardcore Adult Pornography

NEW YORK, Aug. 4 /Christian Newswire/ -- On Monday, Attorney General Holder announced the "first-ever National Strategy for Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction." The Release said the strategy "also provides the first-ever comprehensive threat assessment of the dangers facing children from child pornography, online enticement, child sex tourism, commercial sexual exploitation...and outlines a blueprint to strengthen the fight against these crimes."

MIM President Robert Peters commented:

Strangely missing from Attorney General Holder's "comprehensive threat assessment of dangers facing children" online is the proliferation of hardcore adult pornography which is contributing to sexual exploitation of children in variety of ways, including:

* Perpetrators use hardcore adult pornography to groom their victims.
* Many perpetrators progress from viewing adult pornography to viewing child pornography.
* Johns act out what they view in hardcore adult pornography with child prostitutes.
* Addiction to adult pornography wrecks marriages, and children raised in one-parent households are more likely to be sexually exploited.

Furthermore, children are not just harmed by online predators; they are also harmed by online exposure to hardcore adult pornography which depicts sex with teens, family members, multiple partners, prostitutes and animals. This material also depicts excretory activities, sexual violence against women, and unsafe sex galore.

And children today are exposed to hardcore adult pornography like no generation before them. According to a survey reported in CyberPsychology & Behavior (2008), 93.2% of boys and 61.1% of girls "had seen online pornography before age 18...and boys were significantly more likely to view online pornography more often and to view more types of images."

I would add that the Congressionally-created COPA Commission included the following Recommendation in its 2000 Final Report (available at www.copacommission.org):

"Specifically, the Commission recommends that Government at all levels fund aggressive programs to investigate and prosecute violations of obscenity laws... This investigation and prosecution program should supplement the Government's existing effort to investigate and prosecute child sexual exploitation, sexual abuse, and child pornography.. Such a program should be of sufficient magnitude to deter effectively illegal activity on the Internet."

Despite this recommendation, the Justice Department continues to focus almost exclusively on sexual exploitation of children crimes; and Congress goes along with this nonfeasance by remaining silent and failing to fund enforcement of federal obscenity laws.

Two informative documents entitled, "How Adult Pornography Contributes to Sexual Exploitation of Children" and "Harm to Children from Online Exposure to Hardcore Adult Pornography," are posted at www.obscenitycrimes.org ("Porn Problem & Solutions").

Source/Robert Peters, Morality in Media, 212-870-3210

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE ANNOUNCES $1.2 MILLION IN GRANTS TO PROTECT CHILDREN FROM SEXUAL EXPLOITATION

WASHINGTON - The Office of Justice Programs (OJP) has announced the award of four grants totaling $1.2 million to support the development of strategies that protect children from commercial and sexual exploitation. These grants are part of the Department's national strategy to prevent and interdict child exploitation announced by Attorney General Eric Holder.

"Protecting our youth remains a priority with the Justice Department," said Laurie Robinson, Assistant Attorney General, OJP. "We are determined to have strategies in place that prevent, and if necessary, rescue and help children recover from exploitation. These grants will provide the resources necessary to reach the children and hold the perpetrators accountable."

OJP's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) will administer the awards, which will support selected Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Forces by making available improved training and coordination activities, help in developing policies and procedures to identify child victims, assistance in the investigation and prosecution of adult perpetrators and the identification and adoption of best practices for compassionate victim intervention. This grant program is authorized under the Providing Resources, Officers, and Technology to Eradicate Cyber Threats to Our Children Act of 2008, (P.L. 110-401, 42 USC 17601, et seq.) ("the PROTECT Act"). Eligible applicants under the competitive solicitation were the existing 61 ICAC Task Forces and affiliate law enforcement agencies.

Recipients include:

County of Alameda, Oakland, CA ($300,000)
Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Decatur, GA ($300,000)
City of Boston, MA ($300,000)
Cook County State's Attorney's Office, Chicago, IL ($299,999)
Information about the ICAC Task Forces can be found at http://ojjdp.ncjrs.gov/programs/index.html

In addition, OJP also announced the release of the bulletin Effects of Federal Legislation on the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children. The bulletin describes the findings of an OJJDP study that examined the impact of the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 on the federal prosecution of cases of children who were sexually exploited for commercial purposes. The bulletin is posted at http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/228631.pdf.

Source: Department of Justice

Dr. Maybee earned a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology in 1966, and a Master’s degree in Communication in 1971 from Central Michigan University. He received his Doctorate in Communication and Psychology from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1978. He was a Grants Manager for the College of Education at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln from 1974-1980 and was Director of Business Giving and Grants at Guilford College, Greensboro NC from 1981-1984.

Dr. Maybee was a Research Associate at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute from 1984-1986 working with drunk-driving, seatbelt use, and child restraint use statistical analysis. Since 1994, Dr. Maybee has been a full-time Assistant Professor teaching Speech, Communication and Psychology courses at Barry University School of Adult and Continuing Education, in the Fort Myers-Naples area.

Dr. Maybee’s academic research has been on Psychological Type and Personality. His current research interests include spiritual maturity, self-esteem, and experiential learning. He is currently on special assignment as Assessment Research Manager for the Experiential Learning Division for ACE along with teaching courses in Communication in Fort Myers, FL. He and his wife, Bobbie, have been members of Sanibel Community Church since 1988 where he has served on the Church Council and chaired the education and personnel committees of the church.

Dr. Maybee assisted us with the capacity building grant for which we applied from the Department of Heath and Human Services through the Southeastern Network for which we were awarded $10,165.00. It's worth mentioning that this was the first grant for which we have ever applied.

Additionally, it is my pleasure to inform you that I have been admitted to the Master of Arts program in Mental Health Counseling in the College of Education at Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU).

Beauty From Ashes has truly moved into a new season of professional development and expanded impact. Our vision is that domestic victims will be given the opportunity to receive the comprehensive services they need in order to recover from the trauma and injustices done to them.

This week the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) launched their Human Trafficking Blue Campaign. Below is information about it, how to obtain resources and how to partner with DHS as they continue to lead our nation and the world in human trafficking prevention, protection, prosecution and partnership.

I received a forwarded email about a porn show outreach/ministry report earlier this week that as I read it three things struck me as ‘not right’. Not wanting to focus on the negative I quickly dismissed it, rejoiced more people were stepping out of their comfort zone to reach out in this darkness, said a prayer over the situation and moved on to other things. This morning I was forwarded another email related to the original email, this time it was highlighting a faith based anti-trafficking organization that posted the outreach report I mentioned into their blog. I felt my spirit twist as I then saw it was referenced to a well known Christian magazine blog.

I clicked on the link and it took me to the magazine blog where the initial email was submitted from the original writer as a ‘guest blogger’. My heart sank as I read through it again realizing they

#1. Used the actual names of the individuals they ‘reached out to’ at a porn expo.
#2. Went into explicit detail of the personal information people shared with them in confidence.
#3. Said there was a company selling iPhone porn apps.

Immediately my thought was ‘I hope the persons mentioned do not see this’ and I found myself reading through the comments. To even greater shock it was apparent that not only had the person whom the majority of the ministry report was written about read it, they had commented and their comment was deleted! As I my heart pounded I read the comments of well meaning Christians defending what this person had said and believers arguing back and forth defending the woman whose comment was deleted and the woman who wrote the ministry report. The comments went into detail of the content of the victim's deleted comment. I will call her from here forward the victim. She apparently accused the guest blogger of using her and exploiting her to promote the blogger’s book on sex trafficking, which the magazine article highlighted. The rest of the comments were believers debating who was right and who was wrong and my heart went out to the victim that was clearly re-exploited whose comment was deleted.

What kind of witness is this? How do you think this victim feels about Christians now? She bears her soul and life background to a woman that takes a great deal of effort to show interest in her life and this person, who happens to be an author of a book, posts the details of the experience on a Christian magazine blog.

I understand the desire to want people to know how God is using us to touch the broken, forgotten, discarded and downcast and I have made many, many, many mistakes in ministry. I’ll be the first to admit it, however, I have learned from those mistakes some of the most valued lessons. In the training for sex industry worker outreach and ministry we cover many of these mistakes in hope that others won’t have to make them. One of the topics we cover is this.

Trust is the crucial element that as ministers of the gospel we need to establish in order to build relationships that will result in discipleship. We also need to be sensitive to people’s privacy. Public emails and blogs that go into detail with people’s names and their personal lives, when they have not signed a release of information, is wrong any way you look at it and could cause significant harm to the very individuals we are trying to reach ‘in the name of Christ’. This woman’s experience with Christians reaching out to her at a porn expo has been sabotaged and the already sensitive issue was compounded when the comment in which she tried to state her hurt, disappointment and opinion was deleted from the blog. The message she received, ‘what you think doesn’t matter’ and ‘you were used to promote a ministry, a book and a magazine’.

As a victim’s advocate, social justice missionary and a licensed minister who has worked with victims of commercialized sexual exploitation for over 14 years, please don’t use people’s real names you come into contact with, nor go into detail of personal information they share with you about their lives in emails, blogs or newsletters. I understand the desire to share with people the details of a divine God encounter, but we need to be sensitive to people’s privacy. This is a perfect example of what could happen. Sadly, the young woman whose details of her tragic life was shared publicly may have ground for a lawsuit now as well. More importantly, her perspective of ‘Christians’ has clearly been tarnished and worse yet, she’s been re-exploited and likely traumatized AGAIN.

It’s imperative that we use wisdom and common sense when reporting information publicly and it’s time ministers start doing this, trusting God to bring exposure and support to the work we are doing ‘in the name of Jesus’. If God has given you a vision, He will also give you provision in a manner that does not include the exploitation of the precious people we are trying to reach in His name.

Let me share with you the definition of exploitation according to Wikipedia, “In political economy, economics, and sociology, exploitation involves a persistent social relationship in which certain persons are being mistreated or unfairly used for the benefit of others. This corresponds to one ethical conception of exploitation, that is, the treatment of human beings as mere means to an end—or as mere ‘objects’. In different terms, ‘exploitation’ refers to the use of people as a resource, with little or no consideration of their well-being.”

I love that so many people are wanting to reach out to those in the sex industry, but we need to use wisdom and common sense when sharing with others what we are doing. Before hitting ‘send’ ask yourself, 'what would the person I’m writing about think if they read this? Would it build them up, solidify the trust I am establishing with them or will they feel exploited and possibly used?' and 'Is this in the best interest of the person I am making reference to?' If we are not careful we will end up re-exploiting the very people we are trying to rescue from being exploited.

Lastly, for the record, Apple does not allow apps that contain porn for their iPhones. The author of the outreach report stated the victim worked at a booth selling such. I confirmed this through Apple. Apple is the only cell phone that doesn’t allow them, though their competitors do, which is most likely what the victim was selling. Stating that there are iPhone apps for porn is simply not true. Bottom line, neither Apple, nor this victim, should of been ‘sold out’ for this public ministry report. There is something significantly wrong that needs to be changed when major corporations that are actively taking a stand against the evils of pornography are falsely accused of the opposite and victims are re-exploited “in the name of Christ”. Jesus died to set us free. Hopefully we can all learn from this and work together to protect those we are trying to set free. They deserve the right of privacy with or without the name of Jesus.

Julie Shematz
Founder & CEO of Beauty From Ashes Ministries

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano today launched the “Blue Campaign”—a DHS-wide initiative to combat human trafficking through enhanced public awareness, victim assistance programs, and law enforcement training and initiatives.

“The battle against human trafficking is a shared responsibility involving the Department’s federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement partners, non-profit and non-governmental organizations, governments around the world and communities across the nation,” said Secretary Napolitano. “With the Blue Campaign, we seek to shine a light on a crime that thrives in the shadows, bring traffickers to justice, and assist victims in communities across the nation.”

The Blue Campaign was officially launched today by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director John Morton, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Alan Bersin, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Alejandro Mayorkas, Federal Law Enforcement Training Center Deputy Director Ken Keene and Alice Hill, Senior Counselor to Secretary Napolitano—underscoring the unified effort to prevent human trafficking, assist victims and hold traffickers accountable by bringing together the Department’s diverse resources and expertise under one initiative.

To help citizens learn to identify and properly report indicators of human trafficking, the Department is launching public outreach tools that include social media, multilingual public awareness campaigns, and a new, comprehensive one-stop website for the Department’s efforts to combat human trafficking at www.dhs.gov/humantrafficking.

The Blue Campaign also features new training initiatives for law enforcement and DHS personnel, enhanced victim assistance efforts, and the creation of new partnerships and interagency collaboration—including the deployment of additional victim assistance specialists and specialized training for law enforcement personnel.

The Blue Campaign’s name and symbol were chosen by the Department to evoke the “thin blue line” of law enforcement, as well as the global anti-human trafficking symbols the Blue Blindfold, produced by the United Kingdom Human Trafficking Center, and the Blue Heart, developed by the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime, to help raise international awareness about this issue.

A fact sheet detailing the numerous aspects of the campaign across the Department is available here.

For more information, visit www.dhs.gov/humantrafficking.

Source: GOVMONITOR

BFA NEW OFFICE LOCATION: It gives me great pleasure to announce that Beauty From Ashes Ministries has moved our office location to Barry University in central Fort Myers, FL. Office hours will be Monday - Friday 10am - 5pm and by appointment. Our new location's address is: 12381 South Cleveland Avenue, Suite 506-1, Fort Myers, FL 33907. We are on the fifth floor of the Sunrise Office Center, also known as the Gorovoy Vision Center. It's the only high rise building in the area and it has a huge eye on the top floor facing West and one facing East, on US 41 between Crystal and College next to the Villas Center.

On behalf of myself, BFA's board, staff and partners, I would like to publicly thank Dr. Richard Maybee, Dr. Howard Bell and Dr. Trish Herman of Barry University for their generosity and willingness to partner with Beauty From Ashes.

If you would like to know about the work we do as advocates and service providers for victims of sex trafficking and commercialized sexual exploitation, please visit our website.

Community partnerships are vital to providing the comprehensive recovery services that victims require for restoration. If you would like to partner with us, contact me.

MONTHLY VOLUNTEER/TEAM MEETINGS: We have team meetings the first Saturday of the month 9am - 2pm. Our next meeting is August 7th and we will be meeting at Barry University. For a list of areas with which we are in need of assistance, CLICK HERE. You too can be a slavery abolitionist. Get involved with BFA!

E-NEWSLETTER: To sign up, CLICK HERE

Together we are better and can make a difference!

In His passionate love to see victims become over-comers,

Julie Shematz
CEO & Founder
Beauty From Ashes™ Ministries
Where Victims Become Over-Comers
239.939.9218
877.4BFA SOS (423.2767) Toll Free Help Line

AWARENESS & PREVENTION • REACH & RESCUE • TEACH & DEMONSTRATE • TRAIN & SEND

US/Washington DC: Domestic Trafficking of Minors Briefing Notice
BRIEFING NOTICE:
Domestic Sex Trafficking of Minors

The Victims’ Rights Caucus and the Human Trafficking Caucus cordially invite you to attend a briefing to discuss the pervasive and troubling issue of domestic minor sex trafficking of minors.

When: Monday July 19 from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM

Where: 2220 Rayburn House Office Building

Speakers:
Former Congresswoman Linda Smith, Founder and President, Shared Hope International
Sergeant Ryan Long, Vice Division, Seattle Police Department
Ernie Allen, President and CEO, National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
Emily Fitchpatrick, Director, Hope House/On Eagles Wings, North Carolina
Sidney Ford, Founder and Executive Director, You Are Never Alone, Maryland

While many know the horrors of international sex trafficking, sexual violence and trafficking of American girls remains largely invisible. Experts estimate that each year at least 100,000 children in the United States are exploited through prostitution.

These girls who are bought and sold for sex are just that - girls, most between the ages of 12 and 14. They are sexually exploited for their youth, routinely raped, beaten into submission and even tattooed like cattle by their pimps. Shockingly, those who traffic American girls are rarely prosecuted.

Domestic minor sex trafficking is a form of modern day slavery. Representatives Carolyn Maloney and Christopher Smith have introduced H.R. 5575, the Domestic Minor Sex trafficking Deterrence and Victims Support Act of 2010 to provide the framework for the targeted and effective solutions to this problem.

We invite you to attend and learn more about solutions to address this issue.
For more information or questions, please contact Amy English at amy@sharedhope.org or 703.351.8062.

This briefing is open to the public.

The tentacles of pornography have poisoned our society and declared war on morality. Jobs, marriages, reputations and personal lives have all been ruined for the sake of a greedy, heartless industry.

Now the latest stats show a growing audience and links to violence at ever younger ages:

~ 800 million porn videos are rented in the U.S. every year
~ Sixty-six percent of men ages 18 to 34 peruse at least one of the 40,000+ porn Web sites every month.
~ Twenty-nine out of thirty juvenile sex offenders have viewed x-rated materials
~ Ninety percent of porn is violent, fueling violent sexual crimes

It’s a seven billion dollar business that feeds the brain and corrupts the soul. There is nothing harmless about the content. The Internet provides easy accessibility attracting first-time curious onlookers at the average age of nine. Boys tend to be more likely to gravitate toward the x-rated stuff than girls, but studies have shown a growing tendency for both. In a research study done by Pamela Paul, From Pornography to Porno to Porn: How Porn Became the Norm, is an example of an eleven-year old girl who was building a porn web site. Her friends thought it was cool, so she went along with it. For too many children, pornography is their first education about sex, leading to unrealistic expectations and unhealthy relationships. Innocence lost.

Paul has interviewed many addicts for her book Pornified and has come to this conclusion: "Pornography's effects rippled out, touching all aspects of their existence," Paul said. "Their work days became interrupted, their hobbies were tossed aside, their family lives were disrupted. Some men even lost their jobs, their wives, and their children."

No doubt about it. Men, women, teens and even pre-adolescents are negatively affected by porn. The lure of this evil has no class, gender, age or faith barrier. According to one expert, Dr. Mary Anne Layden, a psychotherapist and director of the University of Pennsylvania's Sexual Trauma and Psychopathology Program, anyone who chooses to cross over to the dark side will not be unscathed. Some type of damage occurs when pornography is seen.

Clay Crosse, Christian Recording Artist, struggled for years with pornography and it almost cost him his marriage. In his book I Surrender All, he confessed: "My life was on a collision course with disaster. It was just a matter of time … My pleasure. My desire. My lusts … Porn entertained me for awhile, but eventually I started to ask myself, "I wonder what it would be like to have two women at the same time?" Set free from the need for porn, Crosse and his wife Renee help other families through their ministry Holy Homes.

Porn is a trap that snares even the most cautious, but there are safeguards. Website blockers like Wisechoice guard against temptation. CleanHotels.com assures a hotel stay that is porn-free. Parents can keep watch over children, and couples can create accountability measures. Ministries through local churches, like Discovery Church and First Baptist Church in Orlando, have counseling.

Fighting on the legal front are groups like "The Coalition for the War on Illegal Pornography," who are working with Congress for better laws. Recently this group held a briefing titled "Pornography Harms: What Congress can do to Enforce Existing Laws." Concerned Women for America (CWA) helped sponsor the event. Dr. Janice Shaw Crouse, Senior Fellow at CWA's Beverly LaHaye Institute, said, "This briefing focuses on the harms of pornography … The data shows that porn has taken over much of the nation's entertainment; it is addictive, it's pervasive, and it's harmful."

In an industry that knows no bounds, child pornography is ever increasing. A federal task force found the area between Jacksonville and Orlando, Florida to be the country’s worst offender. A Jacksonville.com report noted that "research has consistently shown a strong connection between viewing child porn and sexually abusing children."

On the flip side of the issue are those who thought it would be glamorous to be a porn star, but found instead a lifestyle that brought degradation and disease. Just ask Shelly Lubben, former porn star and prostitute, about the ravages of a life looking for love in all the wrong places.
Quite the story to tell, Lubben explains in candid detail how a lonely young girl can get caught up into the business of sex. In her case, drug and alcohol addiction were all wrapped up into a life she no longer wanted. Suicide was something she tried more than once. "Drug overdoses, Herpes, suicide attempts and abuse on the porn set. I nearly died but by the grace of God I survived," she stated on her Web site. She surrendered to the love of Jesus and was restored to be the way God meant her to be; a loving wife and mother. It was an eight year process, but now she reaches out to help others find the Way.

"It's not harmless adult entertainment, as some would like us to believe, but a real, measurable and undeniable threat to individuals, families and society. The crucial question before us is not whether or not the state has a compelling interest in protecting society from the harm of pornography, but rather, given the overwhelming evidence of harm, why it chooses to do so little?"

Source: Examiner.com