I just saw a very troubling documentary on Human trafficing in the US and how the internet has helped the exploitation of young girls as young as 12.  I pretty sure that most of the members of this board don't do anything like that but are we contibuting to this problem?

I'm not the moral police but the film really got me thinking.

Thoughts?

In my opinion... No, we as responsibe hobbiests do not contribute to this BS, but unfortunately there are allot of pervs out there. There is a specific market out there to which these trafficers cater, and that is something that has been unchanged for some time now... It's just becoming more popular all over again!

For decades men have been traveling abroad to foreign Countries seeking sexual pleasures for underaged girls and boys. and over the past few years many of those Countries have adopted specific laws pertaining to tourists traveling for that particular reason which impose quite stiff penalties. Even better... the U.S. has laws pertaining to people traveling abroad in serach of such dispicable pleasures.They can be held accountable once they return to the States.

While I am an avid hobbiest and yes perhaps the occassional school girl fantasy does strike me there is never an excuse to exploit children...

Many of the documentaries, books or other material that is created make us out to be the problem when in reality it would be like saying all Muslims are Jihadist-Aholes. Does a few bad apples spoil the bunch??? Perhaps sometimes but in this particular case I'd say no! Anyone, including those in the hobby should expose any person, agency, or business they know for a fact are expoliting children.. IMHO....

I do believe this is a moral question... but I also believe LE and perhaps politicians use human trafficing as an excuse to further their crusade against prostitution. While human trafficing does exist and is perhaps worse than we might realize I do not believe the hobby itself contributes to it. There is a reason it is the oldest profession!

The only way I can see members of this board contributing is by going to an AMP... Many of the Korean, Japanese, Chinese etc... girls are brought here and perhaps forced to work as indentured servants in a way. I no longer frequent these establishments for my own personal realizations but I am not here to be a moral compass for anyone either.

Maybe I got a little more in detail here than I should have, but I am a father myself... and the thought of someone wanting to pay to have "time" with her disgusts me in a way that could not be descibed in words!

Fog

Iwould think this site would have to be considered part of the solution.  Now I realize that not every TER member is above board on this moral issue, but judging from the posts on this board and the Legal Board, most TER members are not chasing the kind of services that these unfortunate women and girls are brought in for.  Sharing info on a site like TER helps members avoid the "sweat shops" and, therefore decrease demand.  My $.02.

There are those who insist that by patronizing even the relatively upscale and non-trafficked providers found on TER, hobbyists are creating a powerful demand that amounts to expolitation of women.  The parallel they sometimes make is that we wouldn't have a drug problem in the US if we didn't have huge demand-pull that creates a market for traffickers.  There is some logic in these arguments -- if nobody was interested in sex there wouldn't be prostitution.  The bottom line for me is that consensual behavior among adults can never be regulated effectively and shouldn't be the business of government, but there is a lot more that can be done to stop trafficking and slavery.  As for drugs, legalizing and taxing at least marijuana sales as a test case first step and concentrating LE on reducing domestic demand rather than blaming the suppliers might help.  We're a long way from any of these possibilities.