Published on September 8, 2024, 12:38 am

Image source: Fox News

At just 14 years of age, Serena found herself swept into a grim reality that is becoming all too common in this digital age. After convincing her to share explicit photos and videos, a crush betrayed her trust, widely circulating the material among classmates. The content was uploaded on Pornhub repeatedly, resulting in widespread distribution of her abuse. Notably, it was through this disturbing platform that Serena connected with Laila Mickelwait when she was 19, an advocate committed to halting the monetization of child sexual abuse and rape on such platforms.

In her recent memoir, “Takedown: Inside the Fight to Shut Down Pornhub for Child Abuse, Rape, and Sex Trafficking,” Mickelwait details further distressing scenarios where minors are exploited. One harrowing account involves a 15-year-old girl who had been missing for over a year until a Pornhub user recognized her in videos uploaded to the site by a profile named “Daddy’s_Slut”. Over fifty horrific videos had been uploaded featuring the teen being sexually assaulted, made more appalling as these acts were monetized with advertisements.

Mickelwait dedicates her professional life to holding companies like Pornhub and their parent company Aylo (previously Mind Geek) accountable for disseminating abusive content. Her journey has involved presenting an unfiltered view of such magnanimous entities’ operations while tackling significant players like credit card companies supporting them. This initiative led Mickelwait to develop Trafffickinghub; through it she spearheads efforts against arguably one of the biggest pornography websites globally.

The changes which Mickelwait advocates for aren’t controversial within their industry – even those within adult entertainment have expressed agreement with age and consent verification proposals put forth by Mickelwait. While acknowledging elements within her community object to some facets of this endeavor due to religious or political reasons, she emphasizes that at its core lies an issue fundamental human rights – making it unquestionably relevant news from a Christian worldview perspective.

Mickelwait, as a mother herself, sees this struggle on two fronts. Reflecting on the potential threats her own child might face stokes passion within her to work relentlessly against online sexual abuse and sex trafficking. The stress stemming from confronting such high stake opponents hasn’t been without stress, however. Doxing incidents and the superimposition of her face onto graphic images have added to the emotional toll.

Yet in these challenging periods, Mickelwait turns to faith to maintain resilience. Her spiritual beliefs offer a grounding post allowing perseverance despite formidable pressures. A pivotal driving force drawing strength has been Mickelwait’s late father – whose principles critically shaped her sense of justice for victims of abuse.

Tackling digital exploitation is an urgent task requiring all hands on deck – after all, combating this pervasive issue matters not just to specific religious or political groups but touches everyone holding dear the sanctity of human rights. Through relentless advocacy today for genuine safeguards against online sexual exploitation and an unwavering commitment towards ending child sexual abuse and rape tomorrow, Mickelwait remains in the frontline chasing real news while perpetuating a trusted cause strongly aligned with common Christian values.