Submission + - New child protection nonprofit strikes back at sex-negative approach of SESTA (youcaring.com)
qirtaiba writes: When the SESTA online sex trafficking bill passed last month, it sailed through Congress because there were no child protection organizations that stood against it, and because no Member of Congress (with the brave exceptions of Ron Wyden and Rand Paul) wanted to face re-election having opposed a bill against sex trafficking, despite its manifest flaws.
In the wake of the law's passage, its real targets—not child sex traffickers, but adult sex workers and the Internet platforms used by them—have borne the brunt of its effects. Website like the Erotic Review and Craigslist's personals section have either shut down entirely or for U.S. users, while Backpage.com has been seized, leaving many adult sex workers in physical and financial peril.
A new child protection organization, Prostasia Foundation, has just been announced, with the aim of taking a more sex-positive approach, that would allow it to push back against laws that really target porn or sex work, under the guise of being child protection laws. Instead, the organization promotes a research-based approach to the prevention of child sexual abuse before it happens. From the organization's press release:
In the wake of the law's passage, its real targets—not child sex traffickers, but adult sex workers and the Internet platforms used by them—have borne the brunt of its effects. Website like the Erotic Review and Craigslist's personals section have either shut down entirely or for U.S. users, while Backpage.com has been seized, leaving many adult sex workers in physical and financial peril.
A new child protection organization, Prostasia Foundation, has just been announced, with the aim of taking a more sex-positive approach, that would allow it to push back against laws that really target porn or sex work, under the guise of being child protection laws. Instead, the organization promotes a research-based approach to the prevention of child sexual abuse before it happens. From the organization's press release:
Prostasia Director Jaylen MacLaren is a former child prostitute who used a website like this to screen her clients. She now recognizes those clients as abusers, but she does not blame the website for her suffering. “I am committed to preventing child sexual abuse, but I don’t believe that this should come at the cost of civil liberties and sexual freedom,” Jaylen said. “I have found ways to express my sexuality in consensual and cathartic ways.”
...
Nerea Vega Lucio, a member of the group’s Advisory Council, said “Child protection laws need to be informed by accurate and impartial research, and ensuring that policy makers have access to such research will be a top priority for Prostasia.”
