Ashton Kutcher: My Organization Found 6,000 Trafficking Victims This Year. (Video)

Actor and activist Ashton Kutcher recently appeared on The Today Show to talk with Kathie Lee and Hoda Kotb about the second season of his Netflix original TV series The Ranch, but did a lot of talking about his work to fight human sex trafficking and his desire to end child pornography.

In the video interview above, Kutcher tells Lee and Kotb about the organization he started with his ex-wife Demi Moore in 2008 called Thorn.

“We’re building digital tools to fight human trafficking. Basically, the purchase and commerce for human trafficking is happening online, just like everything else now, and so we’re building digital tools to fight back against it.”

Thorn describes itself as an organization with a mission to drive tech innovation in the fight against trafficking. According to Thorn’s website: We partner across the tech industry, government and NGOs and leverage technology to combat predatory behavior, rescue victims, and protect vulnerable children. The site also lists 20 members of what it calls The Thorn Technology Task Force, comprised of technology companies that lend their knowledge, time and resources to the work that we do. Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, and Adobe are listed among the names who are helping Thorn’s cause.

“We’ve built a tool to help law enforcement prioritize their caseload, and recover victims and find traffickers,” he says about his organization’s efforts. “And we’ve found and identified and recovered over 6,000 trafficking victims this year. And we’ve found, identified and recovered 2,000 traffickers.”

With the success of his organization in the fight against human trafficking, Kutcher is now setting his sights on a new goal.

“Our next battle, my next commitment … I’m going to make a pledge that I’m going to eliminate child pornography from the internet.”

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We support the efforts of Thorn and the many other organizations that are making a real difference in the fight to end sexual exploitation in all its forms. Sex trafficking has become a global industry that affects the lives of millions, especially those of women and children.

While sex trafficking is a worldwide issue, what many don’t know is that it is only made worse by pornography. Many trafficking victims are filmed and forced to be on camera, and the result usually ends up online. Viewers don’t know the dark origins of the porn they’re watching and supporting, which only fuels the demand for more. In addition, many prostitutes and sex trafficking victims are forcibly exposed to porn by traffickers to condition them as sex slaves.

Pornography is inseparably connected to prostitution and sex trafficking. Any form of sexual exploitation supports the sex trade as a whole. By speaking out against these harms and raising awareness on the issue, we can make a change.

In the video interview above, Kutcher tells Lee and Kotb about the organization he started with his ex-wife Demi Moore in 2008 called Thorn.

“We’re building digital tools to fight human trafficking. Basically, the purchase and commerce for human trafficking is happening online, just like everything else now, and so we’re building digital tools to fight back against it.”

Thorn describes itself as an organization with a mission to drive tech innovation in the fight against trafficking. According to Thorn’s website: We partner across the tech industry, government and NGOs and leverage technology to combat predatory behavior, rescue victims, and protect vulnerable children. The site also lists 20 members of what it calls The Thorn Technology Task Force, comprised of technology companies that lend their knowledge, time and resources to the work that we do. Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, and Adobe are listed among the names who are helping Thorn’s cause.

“We’ve built a tool to help law enforcement prioritize their caseload, and recover victims and find traffickers,” he says about his organization’s efforts. “And we’ve found and identified and recovered over 6,000 trafficking victims this year. And we’ve found, identified and recovered 2,000 traffickers.”

With the success of his organization in the fight against human trafficking, Kutcher is now setting his sights on a new goal.

“Our next battle, my next commitment … I’m going to make a pledge that I’m going to eliminate child pornography from the internet.”

————–

We support the efforts of Thorn and the many other organizations that are making a real difference in the fight to end sexual exploitation in all its forms. Sex trafficking has become a global industry that affects the lives of millions, especially those of women and children.

While sex trafficking is a worldwide issue, what many don’t know is that it is only made worse by pornography. Many trafficking victims are filmed and forced to be on camera, and the result usually ends up online. Viewers don’t know the dark origins of the porn they’re watching and supporting, which only fuels the demand for more. In addition, many prostitutes and sex trafficking victims are forcibly exposed to porn by traffickers to condition them as sex slaves.

Pornography is inseparably connected to prostitution and sex trafficking. Any form of sexual exploitation supports the sex trade as a whole. By speaking out against these harms and raising awareness on the issue, we can make a change.

What YOU Can Do

The facts show that porn and sex trafficking are inseparably connected. SHARE this article to raise awareness on what’s happening and to stop the demand.

Check out the following nonprofit organizations to learn more about how you can get directly involved in the fight against sex trafficking:

Polaris Project
This Washington D.C.-based nonprofit is one of the most recognized organizations in the global fight to eradicate modern slavery. Named after the North Star that guided slaves to freedom in the U.S., Polaris systemically disrupts the human trafficking networks by helping survivors restore their freedom, preventing more victims, and leveraging data and technology to pursue traffickers wherever they operate.

Rescue: Freedom International
Based in Seattle, Washington, this nonprofit has partner sites in 8 countries, that support sex trafficking victims and gives them “anything and everything a survivor needs to experience long-term healing and restoration.” While local partners are working on the ground, Rescue:Freedom is the supply line for that work by providing operational funding, scholarships, training, best practices, infrastructure, and other essential resources.

Operation Underground Railroad
O.U.R. takes a boots-on-the-ground approach to combatting sex trafficking by gathering trained extraction operations specialists to bring an end to child slavery. O.U.R.’s Underground Jump Team consists of former CIA, Navy SEALs, and Special Ops operatives that lead coordinated identification and extraction efforts. These operations are always in conjunction with law enforcement throughout the world.

Credits: Fight the new drug.