Today we would like to highlight the work of one of our partners, The National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE). Their Mission is Defending Human Dignity. Opposing Sexual Exploitation.
NCOSE exposes the links between all forms of sexual abuse and exploitation. Since 2013 the NCOSE has published a list called “The Dirty Dozen." Each year they focus on a list of companies that lack the policies necessary to prevent exploitation of children, women, and men through the use of their platforms, purchasing of their products and services, or their marketing partners and clients.
Not only has NCOSE taken on some big players in the Technology Industry, such as Google, Amazon, and Facebook. They have caused these giants to make significant changes to the way they operate.
Here are some of the outcomes,directly linked to placing these companies on the Dirty Dozen List:
Amazon Prime video in 2020 finally rolled out a system to keep young children from accessing inappropriate material. They now have "Kids Profiles" for children under the age of 12 who will only have access to films and shows appropriate to their age group.
In 2020, Google improved Google Images to decrease exposure to hardcore pornography for users looking up unrelated or innocent terms. Before the changes, if you searched for anatomical terms, you would see images of and links to hardcore pornography instead of offering scientific drawings. The search term "happy black teen" returned thousands of pictures of rape and extreme sexual violence. These changes are critical to protecting our children and ultimately limiting the demand for rape and sexual violence images. For every image created, a real child's life has been devastated.
Note: some pornographic images may still appear in Google Image searches for search terms more closely related to the pornography industry.
In June 2014, Google enacted policies for AdWords to no longer accept ads that promote graphic depictions of sexual acts or advertisements that link to websites that have such material in them.
In 2021, Google changed its policies to no longer allow ads for prostitution or “compensated dating.” One more step to thwart sex buyers from purchasing people.
According to NCOSE, “In 2013, after being placed on the Dirty Dozen List and meeting with NCOSE, Facebook took significant steps to improve efforts to block and report child sexual abuse material on its site. Facebook's example, continued work to find solutions to reduce CSAM, and their transparency in reporting and talking about it has set industry-wide standards and moved many other social media platforms to prioritize child safety better. We believe more can be done and are grateful for opening the door to keep these conversations going with Facebook and platforms they own like Instagram. “
As parents, consumers, and concerned citizens, we now have access to holding these companies to account for their business practices. Not only does the "Dirty Dozen List” put them on public blast, but it also ultimately affects their revenue. When consumers get to vote with their dollars, it gives us an undeniable voice. NCOSE has inspired thousands of individuals to contact corporations and government agencies to change regulations and prevent more human sexual violence and acts of indignity.
So here is an example of how the Dirty Dozen Act may have already impacted your family. Over Forty-Thousand children in America were given Chromebook computers for online digital learning and schoolwork in 2019. When the pandemic hit in 2020, those orders more than doubled.
According to CNOSE research,” Google's refusal to turn on safety features for Chromebooks distributed to schools resulted in countless students being exposed to sexually explicit material and sexual predators on their school-assigned devices.”
Even after the FBI alerted the public that online grooming incidents for sex trafficking and exploitation were dramatically rising, Chromebook did not respond to the safety concerns. One of the women from NCOSE tried to turn on the parental controls and find it nearly impossible. Instead of leaving it to the parents, the company could quickly have taken care of it before shipping.
NCOSE received many complaints from parents whose children were being groomed by predators, accessing private adult chat rooms and graphic pornography sites.
After meeting with the company for several years discussing these issues, they finally put Chromebook on the Dirty Dozen List for 2021.
There is also a watch list for companies NCOSE wants to keep its eye on. The current watch list includes Snapchat, Tik Tok, and Visa. They have made some modest improvements, but NCOSE wants to see more before they let them off the hook.
If you would like to learn more about The National Center on Sexual Exploitation, The Dirty Dozen List, and how you can participate, visit their website at https://endsexualexploitation.org/. Check out their resources and get involved.
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Global Hope 365 also supports the rights of children to have a safe childhood free from child marriage. Our nonprofit supports the rights of children and preventing marriage until the age of 18 with no exceptions, in any- and -all circumstances. State laws that allow for marriage when a girl is pregnant may end up protecting a rapist. Join our fight to protect the freedom, health, and education of children.
To learn more about Global Hope 365’s work to end Child Marriage visit
Global Hope 365 site Global Hope 365.org
California Coalition site https://cacoalitiontoendchildmarriage.org/
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