COMMUNITY ADVOCATE & SUBJECT MATTER EXPERT
on topics related to sexual offending, sexual violence, and
ALL FORMS OF sexually deviant acts that impose harm on others.
The main driver of sex buying, “normalized beliefs” about the commercial sex trade, combines interrelated ideas: prostituted women enjoy the act, it is mostly a victimless crime, buyers are merely taking care of their needs, and they are just “guys being guys.”
Demand Abolition
Pornography Feeds the Growing Appetites of Sexual Abusers.
There are a number of public health impacts and negative consequences to the use of pornography viewers, their network, and to society. Pornography is connected to increased violence against women, increased demand for prostitution and sex trafficking, and even to increased sexual dysfunction in otherwise healthy young men.
Sexual Violence encompasses any form of sexually offensive behavior and activity. Anyone can experience Sexual Violence. The Center for Disease control explains, sexual violence impacts every community and affects people of all genders, sexual orientations, and ages—anyone can experience or perpetrate sexual violence. The perpetrator of sexual violence is usually someone known to the victim, such as a friend, current or former intimate partner, coworker, neighbor, or family member.
Sexual violence is associated with several risk and protective factors. It is connected to other forms of violence, and causes serious health and economic consequences.
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Contact me to find out how you can increase your safety and the safety of those around you. There are strategies that can increase confidence to prevent sexual violence.
“Stereotypes regarding African American women’s sexuality, including terms like ‘Black jezebel,’ ‘promiscuous,’ and ‘exotic,’ perpetuate the notion that African American women are willing participants in their own victimization. However, these myths only serve to demean, obstruct appropriate legal remedies, and minimize the seriousness of sexual violence perpetrated against African American women.”
-Women of Color Network, “Communities of Color: African American Women” 2014.
pornography
Children are at greatest risk as research shows exposure affects their developing brains and shapes their sexual templates. The younger and more often children are exposed to pornography the more problematic it becomes. Adolescents are more susceptible to forming addictions than adults because the dopamine neurons in their nucleus accumbens (i.e. the brain’s pleasure center) are much more active and have an exaggerated plasticity in response to addictive stimulus. Thus, it can be said that a propensity for addiction is more strongly “hardwired” into the adolescent brain. Internet pornography consumption by adolescents is associated with risky sexual behavior that can have profoundly adverse effects such as anal sex, multiple sexual partners, and substance use during sex. Such outcomes are not surprising in light of research into how the human brain develops which shows that adolescents are not as readily able to access their front lobes—the portion of the brain that controls impulses and allows for rapid, smart decision making.
Emotions
It can be difficult for boys to know what to do with feelings of closeness and tenderness toward another person. Especially when that is not part of our society’s definition of what it means to be a man. Our culture has rather narrow expectations of ideal masculinity. Studies have identified beliefs that men should be independent and self-reliant, be physically tough, not show emotion, be dominant and sure of themselves, and be ready for sex. William Pollack argues that we’ve actually created a “boy code”, which means you’ve got to be tough and divorced from your emotions, except anger – anger is OK. This viewpoint can create an internal conflict when a boy begins to feel attraction and tenderness toward, for example, a girl that he likes.One study of ninth grade boys found a complex interaction between boys’ desire for intimacy and emotional connection, and the pressure they felt to conform to traditional masculine norms that tell them not to show emotion.
cultural influence
Nearly all facets of children’s lives are in some way influenced by sex. The more you learn what society is teaching your children, the more you will want to protect them from its pernicious influence. In 2007, the American Psychological Association released a report that links oversexualization to the increase in eating disorders, low self-esteem, and depression leading to the current mental health crisis in our youth. Educators have sought to compensate a lack of emotional maturity by flooding young people with information. One may assume that simply teaching children about sex will help them make right choices. Under the banner of tolerance, parents have been removed from teaching proper morals to their children. Parents can engage their teenaged children as a way to starting a dialogue to combat the harm that’s born from a culture that values youth, beauty, and a particular form of sexuality above all else. Get involved personally and politically in creating a healthier culture for ourselves and generations to come.