How Bad is the Dirty Dozen? National Group Reveals 2018 Worst Offenders

Should corporations profit from sexual exploitation of women and children?  Umm...NO!

Can you do something quick and easy to stop them? Definitely, YES!

Each year since 2013, the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) has published their Dirty Dozen list. (See the worst offenders for kids below--I was a little surprised by #1.)

Update: Check out the lists for 2019 and 2020!

It’s a way to publicly call out (and shame!) corporations who exploit people (mostly women and children) for profit, whether that be through:

• pornography,
• prostitution,
• sexual objectification,
• sexual violence, and/or
• sex trafficking.

And the Dirty Dozen list is working! Really well!

The Dirty Dozen List is powerful!

The Dirty Dozen list has effectively “encouraged” corporations to make big changes and to get themselves on the right side of history. It also makes it EASY for individuals to come together in making bold statements.

The Dirty Dozen List is an activism tool that gives back power to individuals who want a voice in the culture. People can participate by taking easy online actions, from sending emails to sharing social media messages.

The Dirty Dozen List has a track record of uniting thousands of individual actions and targeting them to create monumental changes, such as policy improvements at Google, Hilton Worldwide, Verizon, Walmart, and the Department of Defense (see more below.)

Watch fearless leaders at NCOSE announce the 2018 Dirty Dozen in this video made from their headquarters in Washington, D.C.

https://youtu.be/ejJ4WcxU1Rc

5 Big Offenders for Kids

Here are five Dirty Dozen corporations we feel are the worst when it comes to hurting children. Wouldn’t you like to do something to help stop the exploitation? You can! Don’t worry, we’re not recommending a boycott! Just take one minute to do one action. Corporations take notice when they sense their reputation is on the line:

1. Amazon: Sells child-like sex dolls (what???), sexualized child nudity (posing as “photo art books”), and exploitative television programming accessible to kids. If you think it’s wrong for Amazon to profit from the exploitation of children, click here to find out how you can send a clear message to Amazon executives.
2. EBSCO: Provides library databases to public and private schools (K-12), colleges and universities, public libraries and more. However, these portals also provide access to hardcore pornography and graphic sexualized images —definitely not appropriate for school kids! Find out how you can protest this egregious lack of protection for our young students here.
3. Snapchat: Probably the most popular app with kids who can send messages that last only seconds and then disappear (unless someone has captured them via a screenshot!).
   Snapchat facilitates the sending of sexually explicit photos (for minors this may legally be considered the felony crime of child pornography!) and now provides a way to monetize those pics through Snapcash. Unfortunately, Snapchat’s vast profits are made by perpetuating sexual exploitation and giving users no way to opt out of sexually explicit material. Click here to hold Snapchat accountable!
4. Steam: Steam is a platform for distributing thousands of video games which can be played on multiple platforms and devices. Steam also hosts community forums that link gamers together. Some of the games hosted by Steam celebrate sexual violence, including rape. Let Steam know you want it to take responsibility and stop promoting the learning of degrading sexual attitudes and sexual violence. Click here to send Steam a strong message.
5. YouTube: YouTube has recently been forced by media attention and threats of losing ad revenue to clean up its act when it comes to highly inappropriate content for children. But YouTube is still not doing enough to monitor the degrading and sexually explicit material that’s uploaded to its site. Click here to encourage YouTube to take some simple measures that could protect the millions of children who visit their site daily.

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Taking a stand is easier than you think

Remember, this isn’t a boycott. NCOSE simply asks you to make your voices heard. And it’s EASY to do! Click here to see the entire list and then choose a corporation. Follow NCOSE’s simple directions to tweet messages to Dirty Dozen companies, submit emails or share memes on your social media. This is a simple, but very powerful way to raise your voice against pornography!

Here’s an example of a tweet you could easily send to Snapchat from NCOSE’s website:

@Snapchat please allow users to opt-out of publisher content on Discover! #NoThanksSnapchat

And here’s a meme you could share on your social media:

These examples are just the start. NCOSE has prepared dozens of easy to use resources to help you take action with a simple click.

Thank you for wanting to be a part of the solution. When we work together, we CAN protect children from pornography’s degrading and dehumanizing impact!

Sometimes a corporation or business will do something that offends you personally. It could be a billboard, a magazine cover or a particular policy that you recognize has crossed the line. When that happens it's time to write personal letter of protest!

Personal letters have a powerful impact. Remember how one mom got an entire grocery chain to remove Cosmopolitan Magazine from the sightline of young children? Perhaps you've thought of writing a letter of protest but didn’t know where to start.