Inside a Christian woman's fight to shut down Pornhub for distributing child abuse videos
Serena was only 14 and had never even kissed a boy when a guy she had a crush on convinced her to send him nude images and videos of herself, which he proceeded to share with classmates.
She fell into depression and attempted suicide several times after the content was viewed on Pornhub and uploaded to the site again and again.
When she was 19, Serena connected with longtime advocate Laila Mickelwait after she saw the girl's abuse video online. Mickelwait put out an alert video featuring the girl's face, which allowed the two to connect for help in taking the content off Pornhub.
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"[Serena's story] could be the story of anybody's child, and just realizing that was a horrifying thought, but it really fueled my fight even more," Mickelwait told The Christian Post in an interview about her latest memoir Takedown: Inside the Fight to Shut Down Pornhub for Child Abuse, Rape, and Sex Trafficking.
Serena's story is one of many cases Mickelwait cites in the book of Pornhub distributing and monetizing child sexual abuse and rape.
Mickelwait allows readers to follow her throughout her quest to hold Pornhub, its parent company Aylo (formerly Mind Geek), accountable for distributing videos depicting sexual abuse.
From exposing abuse videos to putting pressure on credit card companies to cut ties with Pornhub, the founder of the Traffickinghub movement shares her strategies for going toe to toe with the billion-dollar pornography website Pornhub.
Another case cited in the book is that of a 15-year-old girl who had been missing for over a year before a Pornhub user told the girl's mother that he recognized the woman's daughter on the site.
The mother discovered over 50 videos uploaded to Pornhub by a user named "Daddy's_Slut" that showed her daughter being raped. As Mickelwait recounted in the book, the minor's assaults were monetized with advertisements, and over 100 million users could pay to download the content.
As an advocate who has fought against issues like human trafficking for over 15 years, Mickelwait said that she has always had a heart for children.
"For people to be able to care about this issue, I thought it was important for them to go on this journey with me," Mickelwait told CP.
"The journey of discovery, to meet the victims, the whistleblowers, to understand how this company works and the devastating trauma that it causes victims," she added. "Hopefully, by the end of the story, they can be as passionate about ending this as I am, and we can mobilize an army of activists to take this to the next level."
Her efforts to mobilize the public against sex crimes have resulted in a movement comprised of a diverse group of people, including those who work in the porn industry. Mickelwait said she is in touch with porn producers and performers on a regular basis, people she credited with helping her uncover abuse in the industry.
The changes she is calling for, such as age and consent verification on every user-generated porn site, are regulations supported by people in the porn industry, she said. She makes clear in her book that she wants to abolish sex trafficking and online sexual crime and not the legal pornography industry.
"When we're taking on abuse and criminal organizations this big, it's important for people to come together and set aside their differences, whether it's their religion or lack of religion, whether it's their political ideology," Mickelwait said. "Because this is a human rights issue. It's not a right or left issue; it's not an issue that's only for Christians."
Throughout the book, Mickelwait showcases her roles as an advocate and a mother. In one section, she described rocking her young son in the darkness of her bedroom one night while her thoughts turned to a story she read days after her son's birth about a missing girl from Florida.
While she stressed that anyone who cares about children can take action on this issue, Mickelwait noted that becoming a mother seemed to increase her empathy for the abused children she learned about through her work.
"I think it really took it to another level when I thought about the fact that these children who have been exploited could be my children in a few years because the things that were happening to them could happen to anyone's child in the digital age," she stated.
Taking on a major corporation is not without its emotional consequences, however.
Mickelwait is transparent with readers about the stress of dealing with doxing or having her face superimposed on graphic images. But during moments of emotional turmoil, the advocate thought of Pornhub's victims, and she would also turn to God.
"I do have a strong faith and belief in God," she said. "My spiritual side has played an important role in keeping me grounded and helping me to just keep going forward."
Another inspiration for Mickelwait that uplifted her in times of need was her late father, who she references frequently in the book. Her dad was a general and vascular surgeon and passed away in 2014 after suffering a heart attack.
Mickelwait recounts standing at her father's grave following his funeral and vowing to bring justice to abuse victims.
"He was just an amazing father and the reason why I am doing this work today," Mickelwait said.
Samantha Kamman is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter: @Samantha_Kamman
