Dear Friend,

I am thrilled to announce that, after years of advocacy, Pornhub is finally being held to account by the federal government!  This week, the news broke that the FTC has charged Pornhub’s parent company, Aylo, with deceiving users about its efforts to remove child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and image-based sexual abuse (IBSA).

This victory is a powerful testament to why we must be unrelenting in this fight. When we press forward with hope and determination, great things do happen! And so, it is with hope and determination that we have continued to call for accountability and justice in other crucial areas over the past month.

Led by Teresa J. Helm, NCOSE’s Survivor Services Coordinator and a survivor of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, we urge accountability of all buyers and facilitators of Epstein/Maxwell’s sex trafficking ring. Teresa and the NCOSE team have voiced our unreserved support the House’s bipartisan effort to seek the release of Jeffrey Eptsein-related files, and have appeared in countless media interviews and public speaking opportunities on this matter.

We are also fighting hard in our lawsuit against Nevada brothels, where our survivor client received a disappointing and, frankly, shocking ruling: a judge threw out the lawsuit simply because the survivor did not wish to disclose her name and identity to the public. This ruling threatens not only our client, but survivors across the country, as it gives reason to fear that the justice system will not offer survivors protection if they seek to hold their abusers accountable. We have filed an appeal and are fighting this ruling tooth and nail.

Thank you for your enduring commitment as we strive together for a world where all can live and love, free from sexual abuse and exploitation!

Please read on for further details on these and other exciting updates.

Sincerely,

Marcel van der Watt
President and CEO

National Center on Sexual Exploitation 

Breaking! FTC Takes Historic Action Against Pornhub After Years of Advocacy  

After years of tireless advocacy, evidence-gathering, and survivor support, Pornhub is finally being held to account. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has taken action against Pornhub's parent company, Aylo—and we couldn't be more thrilled. 

The National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) has been sounding the alarm about Pornhub's dangerous practices for years, in partnership with powerful allies like Laila Mickelwait and, most importantly, brave survivors who came forward to share their stories. Today, we celebrate this as a monumental victory and a vindication for the countless survivors who have courageously stepped forward to expose the truth about Pornhub’s nefarious practice.  

Please consider donating to the NCOSE Law Center, as we continue the fight against Pornhub through civil litigation. The NCOSE Law Center serves all of our survivors clients free of charge, which is why your donations are essential to make this work possible. 

Ending Exploitation Together: Haley McNamara Named NCOSE Executive Director & Chief Strategy Officer 

Haley McNamara reflects on her 10+ years with NCOSE as she steps into a new leadership role: 

"I grew up in a quintessential small town in the heart of America, tight-knit, and safe. Yet even here, where parental involvement and family-orientation were the norm, sexual abuse and exploitation touched nearly every person I knew. Growing up I slowly learned that this friend was targeted and groomed online by a stranger, another struggled with compulsive pornography use from a young age, and another was coerced into sexual abuse.  

Years later as a college student I remember walking by the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC, and being struck with a strong conviction: these issues were connected to each other. And I needed to do something about it.  

The conviction was strong but at first I felt dismay. Who was talking about the connections between these different kinds of sexual harm and trauma? Did this even exist? Thankfully, before long, I found the answer: The National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE.)" 

Read Haley's full article here.  

Epstein Survivor Speaks Out: Teresa J. Helm | Ending Sexploitation Podcast | Episode 75

Haley McNamara (Chief Strategy Officer at NCOSE) sits down with Teresa J. Helm (Public Policy Outreach Manager and Survivor Services Coordinator at NCOSE) to talk about her experience as a survivor of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell's sex trafficking ring.

This past week, survivors gathered on Capitol Hill to call on lawmakers to release the government files on the Epstein case. Teresa added her voice to that gathering, and in this episode, she talks about the details of the event. She speaks out about both Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, and she gives us insight into why the recent prison transfer for Maxwell is a concern. 

Tune in and subscribe to the Ending Sexploitation Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or your favorite podcast platforms

Plugged In: A Comprehensive Summary of the Roblox Controversy

Focus on the Family's "Plugged In" released an insightful overview of the exploitation problems on Roblox that are bringing this company into mainstream headlines:

"In Kansas, a 13-year-old girl was kidnapped from her home by a 33-year-old man she had met while playing Roblox. In another case, a 17-year-old Floridian was arrested after tricking many children on Roblox to send him sexually explicit pictures of themselves.

Another report out of Michigan tells a similar story. And the Chicago-based law firm Stinar Gould Grieco & Hensley is currently representing 'over 400 alleged victims of abuse on platforms like Roblox and Discord.'

Don’t be fooled into thinking that these are isolated incidents, either. The National Center on Sexual Exploitation describes Roblox as a “mainstream contributor to sexual exploitation.” Financial researcher Hindenburg Research conducted an analysis of the platform, claiming that it “easily found 38 Roblox groups—one with 103,000 members—openly soliciting sexual favors and trading child pornography.”And global media conglomerate Bloomberg published an article last year entitled “Roblox’s Pedophile Problem,” unpacking even more cases of CSAM and child sexual abuse that occurred on the platform."

Please take action here to contact Roblox executives and demand they stop treating child protection like a game.