Pornhub Faces Accusations of Sexual Trafficking

Pornhub Accused of Sex Trafficking Teens

According to The New York Times, Pornhub’s website consists of sexual assaults of children. Allegedly the site is filled with rape videos, and there are search codes to find child sex videos.

Pornhub allows the public to post videos and download them from the website, making it challenging for viewers and Pornhub to know someone’s age in a video. Therefore, no one is aware of how much illegal content is on Pornhub. However, since Pornhub allows downloads, even if a video is removed, the video may still be uploaded again.

Videos of alleged assault on the site include unconscious women and girls. The other person in these videos opens these women and girls’ eyelids and touches their eyeballs to show they’re unresponsive. Other videos include alleged gang rape of teens. Most underage content posted involved teenagers, but spy cams show children as young as 8 to 12 years old.

Some alleged victim stories highlighted by The New York Times:

• One 15-year-old girl went missing in Florida and was not seen until her mom found her on Pornhub in 58 different pornographic videos.
• A 14-year-old girl from California was seen on Pornhub being sexually assaulted by a man, which was seen by a classmate and reported, Pornhub did not report.
• One woman told her story. She said she was adopted into a United States family from China, and they trafficked her and forced her to be in pornography when she was nine. VIdeos of her abuse appear on Pornhub and regularly appear. Despite no longer being in videos, she said she’s still being sold through old videos, and they hang over her head.
• Now 19, a victim reflects on how her videos got to Pornhub when she was 14. She sent a video to her crush that was a year older than her. He shared the videos with his friends, and it eventually got posted on Pornhub. Although it was taken down when her mom complained, the videos have been reposted many times. The victim says a video of her at 14 has 400,000 views. She began cutting herself and attempted suicide.
• Now 18, one woman says her boyfriend secretly made a video of her at 14-years-old performing a sex act, and it ended up on Pornhub. The next day people at her school knew and made fun of her. Following her encounters at school, she attempted suicide twice because of the trauma and humiliation.
• One woman, 16 at the time of the encounter, said two men paid her to engage with them sexually, but they filmed it and posted it without consent. She thought of or attempted suicide after finding out she was posted on Pornhub.
• One woman, 19 now, says videos of her when she was 15 are posted on Pornhub, she’s been trying to get them removed for two years. When removed, they get re-uploaded.

The New York Times highlighted many who shared their stories do not want Pornhub to stop streaming but to stop promoting and allowing videos of underaged children and rape on their site. Pornhub has denied direct comment but claims they do not support underage children’s videos and have moderators to seek out these videos and remove them.

Legal Options of Victims Sexually Trafficked by Porn Sites

Attorney contributor Brian Kent, an experienced sex abuse lawyer, has represented numerous victims of sex abuse and sex trafficking. Below Brian provided commentary on the legal rights of victims sexually trafficked or assaulted on a pornography site.

"Pornographic websites have a legal obligation to protect the people uploaded onto the site. To ensure the safety and legal content on their sites, these companies must monitor the videos posted to ensure they comply with the law and not promote sexual abuse. Unfortunately, we have seen on various websites sexual predators abusing underaged teens and unconscious women. These predators abuse their power over those in vulnerable positions and often post pornographic videos without the other person’s consent. Companies must protect those posted and ensure consent to the best of their ability."

"Victims should ask if the company did their best to prevent sexual abuse from occurring and did their best preventing the video from being posted. If not, the victim may have grounds for a civil lawsuit against the company for negligence. An example of negligence is if previous users uploaded inappropriate videos, but that user is still permitted to post. Another example of negligence is if the company is aware of rape or underaged videos on the site but does not immediately take them down. In such cases, the company could be deemed negligent."

"If pornographic companies do not increase preventative measures to ensure inappropriate videos are not posted, the company may be considered negligent in the sex abuse crimes on their sites. Examples of preventative measures would be easy reporting systems and better screenings for inappropriate videos. Companies have an obligation to monitor videos and be aware of the abuse. If a company is found negligent, the victim has ground for a civil lawsuit. Victims should acquire the services of an experienced sex abuse lawyer to explore all their legal options. Victims should know they may be eligible to receive compensation for damages."

Sources:

The New York Times