[ad_1]
Amid growing concerns about online exploitation during a pandemic, female advocates are calling for government action on MindGeek’s Montreal-based porn video sharing platform, Pornhub.
There has been controversy around the company in recent months in allegations of sharing images without consent, such as images of child sexual abuse that the company has denied.
The London Abuse Women’s Center (LAWC) in southwestern Ontario helps women and teenage girls abused by intimate partners and sex buyers. Executive Director Megan Walker told The Epoch Times that the exploitation of sex workers during a pandemic moved to computer screens.
“Previously trafficked to hotels and motels along the 400-series Ontario Highway, now more and more women are trafficked to pornography,” she said.
Teens are also being exploited, Walker said.
“In the first six weeks of COVID, we received calls from six parents,” Walker says. “Some of my daughters were on the internet and were seduced by a man who was identified as a boy who was undressed … interested in doing sexual things.”
February 19th Walker testified earlier House of Commons is standing Committee 143 women told LAWC last year about access to information, privacy and ethics: “Technology is used in attacks, and another 64 have pornography prevalent in their relationships and often play pornographic scenes. I reported that I was forced to do that. “
She also explained for the Commission the harm that women backed by her organization experienced in connection with Pornhub.
“One of the women we served on Pornhub wrote,” Finding my video on Pornhub was to destroy the soul. ” Discovering how easily they are available broke me. I was almost killed by the reality that everyone could see the darkest part of my life, “Walker said.
“One of the common themes we hear from porn victims who can’t delete photos and images is that they feel incredibly shameful and often commit suicide,” she said. ..
“The New York Times article is needed for Pornhub to remove millions of videos after a survey reveals a large number of underage girls and women and girls trafficked without consent. Pornhub is involved in the trafficking of women and girls. “
The New York Times details the title “Children on Pornhub: Why Canada Can Benefit From Video of Exploitation and Assault” by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nicholas Kristof in December 2020. We published an opinion article.
trauma
before session On February 1, a young Californian woman, Serena Fleites, testified that her nude video, created in grade 7 and sent to her boyfriend following his constant urge, was later uploaded to Pornhub.
Fleites said it took weeks after Pornhub requested to delete the video and it kept uploading “over and over”.
“After all, they really don’t want to delete the video. In fact, the whole process should have been to get people to verify their age and identity from the beginning before uploading the video. “She said.
In the same session, New York-based lawyer Michael Bow said his company was investigating hundreds of cases similar to those of Fleet. Their research included “cases of adult women who were raped and raped on video and placed on Pornhub, trafficked women who posted video on Pornhub, and all other types of non-consensual content. Is included, “he said. It was posted on Pornhub. “
MindGeek CEO Feras Antoon told the committee on February 5th. session That “child abuse material is not on our platform.” He also said that the company deleted “most of the content uploaded by unidentified users” and “today has content only from confirmed uploaders.” I have. “
Walker told The Epoch Times that the experience was traumatic for women whose images ended online without consent.
“There are women in our office who identify suicidal ideation as a result. They were embarrassed. Many of them do not leave home …. Some men have women’s phone numbers and Posting with an address puts me at great risk. I was able to continue many times. “
Seeking justice and prevention
On April 12, RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki, Minister of Justice David Lametti, and Minister of Public Security Bill Blair testified in front of the Ethics Committee as part of a hearing with PornHub and MindGeek.
In February, more than 100 survivors and their supporters Signed the letter He described it as a “predatory and unethical company” to the Ethics Commission, which demanded a “complete criminal investigation” of MindGeek by RCMP.Following this Open letter to Lucky Issued by more than 70 senators and MPs requesting that RCMP investigate allegations against the company.
petition With the title, “Shut down Pornhub and hold its executives responsible for supporting trafficking.” Laila Mickelwaite from CaliforniaThe founder of Traffickinghub, as of April 14, has been signed by more than 2.2 million people from 192 countries.
“This is a matter of will, and these hearings will put the necessary pressure on the government, Justice Minister David Lametti, Miss Lucky, and Bill Blair,” said Mickelwaite, who testified before the commission. Let’s do it. ” He said in an interview on February 19th.
“We need to look at justice to victims in the form of criminal charges, as well as compensation for victims in civil proceedings, and legislation will be enacted to help prevent this from happening again in the future. You have to look at it, “she added.
The Epoch Times has asked MindGeek’s media division for comment. A person named Ian Andrews replied, “It is our policy to immediately remove minors or content that has been flagged as non-consensual for review.”
February 5, MindGeek COO David Tassillo testified before the Ethics Commission That “Ian Andrews” is the pseudonym of one of the company’s communication staff.
[ad_2]