The porn industry fuels sex trafficking, increases the demand for children: Rescue experts warn

The pornography industry fuels the demand for human sex trafficking, rescue experts warn. 

FOX News Digital talked to Operation Underground Railroad and Fight To End Exploitation, which devote their resources to helping victims of abuse, and they revealed that videos of sexual abuse often end up on pornography websites to unsuspecting audiences. 

"There's no such thing as innocent pornography, harmless pornography," Matt Osborne, president and COO of Operation Underground Railroad told FOX News Digital. "You'll never be able to know whether the pictures you're looking at and the videos you're watching..... (were) with a consenting individual or not, whether it was with a minor or not." 

Rachel Harrison, advocacy coordinator of Fight to End Exploitation, said there are "a lot of issues with abuse videos getting uploaded or made during the course of trafficking." 

"Pornography and sex trafficking (are) very much intertwined if you think about it, unfortunately, kind of like as a business model for traffickers," Harrison said. "They're doing it because they can make a lot of money. … So, for them to diversify their revenue, they're not only exploiting people in person, but they're also, with the advancement of technology and just social media and how everybody is online, you see a lot of pornography that's being made in conjunction with people who are trafficked." 

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The rise in porn use has also driven up the demand for children, Osborne revealed.  

"It used to be adults," he said. "There always were those preying on children, but we're seeing an uptick in minors being exploited. (There are) a lot of reasons for that, but one is, this addiction to pornography, this oversexualization of our culture." 

Those who are most at-risk of being targeted by human traffickers include people battling poverty, homelessness, drug addiction and have a past record of experiencing abuse. 

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"Human trafficking is not just an isolated issue," Harrison said. "It encompasses so many issues: the drug problem, homelessness, the housing crisis and just mental health, especially mental health care right now, that's been a big factor. Anybody who has any sort of existing vulnerability, those are the ones that are most easily targeted or at risk for being trafficked." 

Harrison said the healing journey post rescue "looks different" for everybody and the organization works to "meet victims where they are at." FEE, which serves in Wisconsin, connects survivors with specialized programs, mental health services, housing, food, baby supplies and ongoing support. 

"The victims need so much help and support and it takes a very long time," Harrison explained. "It's not always going in and just removing somebody from the situation. … Sometimes that's the easy part, but it's that healing journey after the fact … because that can be extensive, especially if there's prior trauma, prior abuse or a drug addiction involved ... We do what we can." 

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