Dear Friend,
Until we launched the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) Law Center in 2015, there had been no voice in the courts and legislatures advocating for human dignity and against all forms of sexual abuse and exploitation.
In the vacuum of a national legal strategy on these issues, pro-sexual exploitation lobbyists have stepped in to promote radical and damaging legislation and legal precedents promoting pornography, prostitution, sexually grooming children for abuse, increasing sex trafficking, and more.
Laws are meant to instruct citizens in virtue. But, what are its lessons when . . .
laws against distribution of obscenity (hardcore pornography) are not enforced
men who buy a child for sex in 27 states can get away with it by simply saying they didn’t know the child was underage
predators are permitted to engage in explicit sexual conversations with children online
perpetrators of image-based sexual assaults (e.g., “upskirting” and “spycamming” and “revenge pornography”) remain unpunished because existing laws are insufficient to arrest them
communities lack the legal expertise to strictly regulate sexually-oriented businesses like strip clubs, illicit massage parlors, and so-called sexpresso-cafes
courts rule that online prostitution advertising platforms are immune from civil liability even when they knowingly engage in human trafficking,
sex buyers face less penalties if they had stolen a candy bar than if they purchase women and children for sex
the brutality of pimps and sex traffickers goes unchecked because prostitution is legalized?
In such circumstances, the lack of laws or failure to enforce existing laws licenses abuse, privileges the rights of the strong over the weak and vulnerable, affirms the notion of sexual entitlement and the dystopian vision of sex as a mere commodity, and proclaims that human dignity is cheap and disposable.
Against this backdrop, NCOSE believed it imperative to establish a Law Center to stand as both a sentry and xxxxxx against the destructive individuals and entities that deny or which facilitate sexual abuse and exploitation.
Over the next two weeks, we will be highlighting the NCOSE Law Center, the victories already achieved, and the opportunities before us.
The tide is changing! While established in 2015, the NCOSE Law Center has hired additional staff, grown an incredible coalition network, and started a national education effort for young, budding attorneys which is enabling us to tackle many more of these issues.
Thank you for making this possible! Stay tuned for more information on our Law Center, but check out our website in the meantime!
