Good News Florida

GoodNewsFL.org 39 JANUARY 2018 LOCAL Florida lawmakers are pushing for a resolution to de- clare pornography a health crisis. As our state advances in this process, at least five others have moved ahead and passed resolutions acknowl- edging the public health crisis that pornography creates, ac- cording to FighttheNewDrug.org. They are Arkansas, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, and Virginia. The state legislatures of Florida, Georgia, Missouri, South Carolina, and West Vir- ginia are currently reviewing resolutions of the same kind. Fight the New Drug, an or- ganization that creatively edu- cates the world about the harmful effects of pornography, stated in its 2017 No- Pornovember global fight for love campaign, “When a Gov- ernor signs a state resolution to declare pornography an issue of public health concern, they are not banning pornography or punishing its consumers. In- stead, they are giving a plat- form to the research and declaring an emphasis on the issue to develop and promote resources to educate and pro- tect citizens and communities.” Florida legislative lead- ers Representative Ross Spano and Senator Kelli Stargel are sponsoring the Resolution as HR 157 in the Florida House of Represen- tatives and SR 480 in the Florida Senate, respectively. Highlights According to SR 480, “pornography objectifies men and women, normalizes vio- lence and the abuse of men, women and children, and de- picts rape and abuse as harmless, thereby increasing the demand for sex trafficking, prostitution and child pornog- raphy…” The resolution further states that pornography is po- tentially harmful to the user’s mental and physical health. SR 480 highlights how this habit also affects personal, marital and familial relation- ships. To this effect, Stargel shared her sentiment about the reality of pornography’s mod- ern day ease and extent of ac- cess. “Hopefully we can start making people aware that it’s not just back in the old days when one had to seek porn, maybe go to get a magazine and hide it under their bed,” said Stargel. “Nowadays, an in- nocent person just trying to go on the internet to do something totally unrelated has the oppor- tunity and is exposed to pornography. I think that needs to stop.” What does it do? Liza Smoker, an attorney and anti-human trafficking ad- vocate, noted that, if passed, the resolution can shed light on the link between pornogra- phy and sex trafficking. She noted further that the anti-sex trafficking community has given the resolution over- whelming support. “Consider the Flanders case where men lured women to south Florida to act in a com- mercial. Instead, the women were given the date rape drug and filmed in sexual acts,” she said. “The footage was sold on- line and in Florida businesses to people who were unaware the women were being raped. These men are now serving life sentences for sex trafficking. This happened in our own backyard, and we all have a so- cial responsibility to reduce the demand.” Pastor Jay Dennis, author of The Pastor’s Resource Guide: Pornography in the Church, shared that this reso- lution gives the church an op- portunity to approach such a difficult subject. Pastors can distribute the resolution and help congregants understand this issue, he said. To access the resolution, visit peoplenotporn.com/facts- education/#resolution. Lydia Hicks serves as editorial assistant at Good News and is a graduate of the Bob Schieffer College of Communication at Texas Christian ResolutionUni- versity. She can be reached at ly- [email protected] . Ԣ 5HORFDWLRQ Ԣ %HKLQG LQ SD\PHQW Ԣ +RXVH 1HHGV 5HSDLU Ԣ 1R DSSUDLVDO Ԣ 1R FORVLQJ FRVWV Ԣ 1R FRVWO\ GHOD\V Ԣ ,QKHULWDQFH Ԣ 'LYRUFH Ԣ )RUHFORVXUH %UXFH 5DFNPLO 5HDO (VWDWH 3URIHVVLRQDO LQWKHKRPHUHDOW\#JPDLO FRP *22'1(:6 +(/3 ,6 +(5( :(:,// %8< <285+20( )25&$6+ +HOSLQJ SHRSOH EX\ DQG VHOO KRPHV ZLWK KRQHVW\ LQWHJULW\ 25 6(// <285+20( $70$5.(7 9$/8( ,Q WKH PXVLF PLQLVWU\ DW )LUVW %DSWLVW 3RPSDQR %HDFK 7KH /RUGV *LIW +RXVH ÎxÇÎ iiÀ Àii *>>`Õ ÀVi° iiÀvi` i>VÎÎ{{Ó Resolution Sheds Light on Link Between Porn and Sex Trafficking Lydia Hicks Good News