OUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS: An Overview
For year-by-year acheievements, see the menu at left.
2016 Victories Making Headline News
Enough Is Enough®® (EIE) has been making the Internet safer for children and families as the pioneering online safety organization since 1994. Its focus is protecting youth from online pornography, sexual predators, cyberbullies and other dangers. EIE has had culture changing successes in 2016 obtaining significant commitments from corporations, presidential candidates, party platforms and state governments to prevent the exploitation of children from online pornography, sexual predation, and cyberbullying trafficking and other dangers.
Public Awareness and Education
Donna Rice Hughes, EIE’s CEO and President was featured in a one-hour TV Special with Barbara Walters, “Barbara Walters Presents” on Dec. 6, 7c/8ET on Investigation Discovery Channel. The show, chronicles Donna’s inspirational journey including her work since 1994 as a leading international advocate/expert for prevention of sexual exploitation of children online. (Watch TV trailer)
EIE historically reaches millions of households annually through earned media and remains the ‘go to’ Internet safety expert for national media outlets. Many of EIE’s campaigns have made headline news in 2016. Ms. Hughes' op-eds have been published in major media publications. Media coverage and press releases can be found in the Media Center of EIE’s newly upgraded websites.
In June 2016, EIE unveiled the redesign of its two websites enough.org and internetsafety101.org (see bottom of documents). The newly upgraded sites allow for greater interactivity, easier navigation, expanded social media efforts and long-term sustainability. EIE also expanded it social media presence significantly in 2016.
The Children’s Internet Safety Presidential Pledge
The Children’s Internet Safety Presidential Pledge, Signed by Donald Trump and supported by Hillary Clinton. The Pledge called upon the Presidential Candidates, if elected President, to pledge to enforce the existing federal laws and advancing public policies designed to prevent the sexual exploitation of children online.
According to Mott’s Children’s Hospital, Internet safety is the 4th top ranked issue on the list of health concerns for U.S. children and sexting is ranked 6th. Preventing the exploitation of children online is a bi-partisan issue in which we can check our political differences at the door.
Next steps include working with President-Elect Trump’s Administration to implement the goals of the pledge which include a commitment to appoint an Attorney General, who will make the vigorous prosecution of the federal obscenity, child pornography, sexual predation, child trafficking laws and the Children's Internet Protection Act a top priority. The Pledge also includes provisions for the necessary resources and tools to prosecute such crimes and calls for the establishment of public-private partnerships to step up voluntary efforts to reduce and prevent Internet crimes against children. Finally, the Pledge asks for consideration to appoint a Presidential Commission to examine the harmful public health impact of Internet pornography and the prevention of the sexual exploitation of children in the digital age.
EIE is also looks forward to potentially working alongside the next First Lady, Melania Trump, on cyberbullying prevention efforts.
EIE plans to roll out the Congressional Pledge and the State Legislator’s Pledge and the State U.S. Attorney’s Pledge in the first quarter of 2017. http://enough.org/presidential_pledge.
The National Porn Free WiFi Campaign Victories
EIE launched its “National Porn Free Wi-Fi” campaign” in the fall of 2014, with nearly 50,000 petitions and 75 partner organizations encouraging McDonald’s and Starbucks to lead Corporate America in filtering porn and child porn on public Wi-Fi. As a result, McDonald’s is now filtering WiFi in nearly 14,000 stores nationwide; Starbucks announced in July they will begin filtering their public WIFI nationally and are implementing a global safe WiFi policy. We will be announcing Subway’s decision to filter WiFi soon.
Next Steps: EIE is encouraging other restaurants, hotels/ resorts, superstores, malls, schools, libraries, airlines and other businesses to filter its public WiFi. More info at http://enough.org/safewifi
Stop Disney-Themed Pornography Campaign
Call to Action for Disney to Stop Disney- Themed Pornography
EIE launched the national campaign September 2016, urging Disney to to take legal action to stop the ongoing proliferation of Disney themed hard-core porn sites, which are an apparent violation of Disney's copyrighted brands. Disney characters are cherished by children worldwide and need to be protected from unscrupulous pornographers who depict them in obscene pictures and videos performing graphic sexual acts. Children can easily stumble across this online pornography, which will shatter their innocent hearts and minds. The online petition campaign already has 21,000 signatures and is growing daily!
The Award Winning Internet Safety 101® Program
The proven-evidenced based curriculum, created in partnership with the Department of Justice, is the only multi-media adult-focused program designed to prevent Internet-initiated crimes against children through educating, equipping and empowering parents and caregivers to protect children from online pornography, sexual predators and cyberbullies, as well as social media, online gaming and mobile dangers.
The curriculum (DVD series/Workbook/Resource Guide) went into international distribution in 2016 with a major distribution company which specializes in video curricula. Expanded distribution to additional digital, video on demand, social media and e-learning platforms, public libraries and other venues nationwide is allowing more parents and caregivers to become educated and empowered to protect children in the digital world. The Emmy award-winning three 1-hour 101 TV shows are also now available on Vimeo in English and Spanish.
Project Wilberforce
The Public Health Pornography Pandemic campaign continues to fuel the growing movement to shed light on the social costs and corroding influence of Internet pornography as a public health epidemic, backed by peer-reviewed social and medical science.
Last Spring, the Utah legislature passed a resolution declaring pornography a public health crisis, which leads to the "hyper-sexualization of teens" and an "increase in the demand for sex trafficking, prostitution, and child pornography." Similar language was included in the GOP Platform. These significant strides signal an important shift in how a growing body of scientific data is influencing policy. To date, scientific data associates Internet pornography with addiction, aggression, abuse, family break-down, hindered psychosocial development and decreased well-being.
According to Dr. Jill Manning, a researcher, mental health practitioner and EIE Board member, "it is groundbreaking to have corporate and political leaders reexamining the controversial topic of pornography and concluding that the research substantiates a public health approach."
Research and Statistics
Extensive peer-reviewed research shows the severity of the online sexual exploitation of children and youth and the need to implement prevention strategies.
- There has been a 774% increase in the number of child pornography images and videos reviewed through the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s Child Victim Identification Program between 2005 and 2011. Most victims of child pornography are prepubescent with a growing trend toward depicting abuse of younger children, including infants.
- Every day, children in the United States are sold for sex, often over the Internet on sites like backpage.com.
- 83% of boys and 57% of girls have seen group sex online; 32% of boys and 18% of girls have viewed bestiality online.
- Internet safety is the 4th top ranked issue on the list of health concerns for U.S. children and sexting is ranked 6th. Sexting behaviors are significantly associated with consuming pornography.
- Porn users demand a constant stream of new, increasingly violent and "fetishized" content. In order to keep up with this demand, more women and children become prostituted and trafficked.
- More than half of teens have witnessed cyberbullying on social media. Cox. (2014) "Cox 2014 Internet Safety Survey." The Futures Company.
- 2016 meta-analysis of pornography research reveals adolescent pornography consumption is significantly associated with stronger gender-stereotypical sexual beliefs, earlier sexual debut, increased casual sex behavior, and increased sexual aggression both as perpetrators and victims.
- The United States is the largest producer and exporter of hardcore pornographic DVDs and web material. (2014)