It’s important for women to understand that under Federal Law, the distribution of intimate images without consent is illegal. If it’s happened to you, here’s what you need to know. When Laila Mickelwait, founder and CEO of the Justice Defense Fund, began questioning the legality of P____b’s content. She quickly learned that P____b is full of videos that document the abuse of women.

At Betrayal Trauma Recovery, we take the firm stance that pornography is abusive to everyone involved. P____b is a gateway, catalyst, and enabler to some of the most graphic, insidious, and violent abuse on the internet. If your husband uses exploitative material you’re likely experiencing his emotional abuse. To discover if he’s using any of the 19 types of emotional abuse, take our free emotional abuse quiz.

Here’s How P____b Distributes Intimate Images Without Consent

P____b and other pornography sites, hosts videos of:

• Rape
• Violence
• Coercion
• Underage vicims
• Unconscious victims

P____b harms victims every day by allowing abusers to post filmed abuse. Protecting women from abuse is our goal. You can help today. Sign the petition here and let your voice be heard. P____b has ruined too many lives – it’s time to hold this industry accountable. To learn more listen to the FREE Betrayal Trauma Recovery Podcast.

Transcript: Distribution of Intimate Images Without Consent

Anne: Laila Mickelwait is the founder and CEO of the Justice Defense Fund and the founder of the global trafficking hub movement supported by millions around the world. She has been combating the injustice of sex trafficking for over a decade and is a leading expert in the field. We are talking about distribution of intimate images without consent. Welcome Laila.

Laila: Thanks for having me.

Anne: Our audience is well aware of the harms of exploitative material on families. And also how it intersects with trafficking. Let’s talk about the work you are doing to bring justice to survivors of trafficking and child sex abuse.

Laila: You know, I’ve been doing this work for over 15 years. I don’t have a dramatic story of how I focused on this area. I grew up in a home where my father focused on human rights issues. He grew up in the Middle East in the midst of war. And he always instilled in us this sense of awareness about human rights issues and justice issues throughout our lives. And I came back around to that when I tried to decide what direction I wanted to pursue in my studies and my career path.

I realized I wanted to invest myself in something that would benefit me, and focus on alleviating human rights abuses. And came across the issue of trafficking around that time. Especially women and children stricken by the severity of the harm. And so that’s how I ended up focusing down that path.

Discovering Online Exploitation

Laila: As time went on. One thing I realized was that trafficking and these abuses were not only going on in brothels in Cambodia, the United States, streets and back alleys, and prostitution, but also online. And through the industry, I realized there is a big industry, a big tech industry and a big tobacco industry.

And that, I began to investigate and research over the last nine years. The intersection between trafficking, child sexual abuse material, all forms of image-based sexual abuse, and the big industry. I spent significant time looking into the harm it does to children. They’re exposed to these kinds of sites. You know, at very young ages these days. As of December, P____b was the largest and most popular exploitative material site in the world.

In 2020, they reported 47 billion visits to the site that year. 130 million visits per day in 2019. They had 6. 8 million videos uploaded to that one site. It would take you 169 years to watch the content uploaded to P____b in just one year. I was investigating that site because I was questioning. There were so many videos. Women in these homemade videos appeared victims of assault. They appeared to be in pain and protesting and not consenting to what was going on.

So that is distribution of intimate images without consent. And also homemade videos of girls that appeared to be underage teens and tweens. And I’m the antidote. How are they vetting these videos? And why is everybody in the world just assuming that because it’s on P____b, it’s legal. One night, my baby awakened me. And as I put him back to bed, I pondered these questions. They haunted me.

Personal Investigation & Findings

Laila: And I had an idea. I said, I’m going to try this test upload for myself. And so I took out my laptop and tried the upload process. I found out what millions of people would have already known. But nobody sounded the alarm about before. And that all that it takes to upload content onto the world’s most popular site was an email address. No ID to prove that you’re of age.

No consent form to show you weren’t assaulted or trafficked. So that is distribution of intimate images without consent. And that was the moment where everything came to a head. And where the Trafficking Hub was born and the movement began.

Anne: At Betrayal Trauma Recovery, we consider all pornography as abuse. So for example, if someone says, well, Anne, a 12 year old boy who views it, is not an abuser. I would say, yeah, you’re right, but you know what has happened to him? It has abused him. SIt’s always an abuse issue in one form or another.

And the fact that people upload child sexual abuse material on P____b and profit from it is absolutely atrocious. So you use the term child sexual abuse material, which more and more people fighting use. Why has that been an important evolution to that term, child sexual abuse material, and away from child pornography?

Laila: Yeah, I think the way we talk about things matters. And one of the things brought to the surface regarding this issue. Is exactly what you’re saying, is this issue of abuse. And understanding abuse and talking about it in terms of abuse of children instead of pornography.

The Importance Of Terminology: Distribution Of Intimate Images Without Consent

Laila: So when I think of exploitative material, we think of an industry, we think of LA or a studio. We think of entertainment, we think of issues often brought up with free speech. And all these kinds of things that people talk about when they talk about it. Something used for pleasure. And so connecting children to that does not do justice to the harm that the Act has had on that child.

And being able to call it child sexual abuse material. I think, really describes what’s going on in a way that is so much fairer to the experience of victims. And doesn’t minimize or legitimize it in any way. What they went through, because children can’t consent to any of this no matter what. So anything involving children, which is distribution of intimate images without consent.

Like you said, advocates are starting to reframe that more and more. For people to better understand what’s going on by calling it child sexual abuse material. I agree with you regarding the consumption of this content when children are viewing it. I often call it a form of secondhand sexual abuse. Children exposed or even willingly seek out that content.

A curious 10, 11 year old who heard the word it at school. He goes home and searches Google for the word and ends up on P____b. Where there are so many thumbnails just on the home page where they auto play. You don’t even have to click play in any of the cases on the home pages of these sites.

Impact On Children & Families

Laila: A recent peer reviewed research study in England. They found significant videos on the homepages of these exploitative image tube sites, like P____b. They represented non-consensual sexual activity or criminal sexual activity, or actual criminal and non-consensual sexual activity. So, this is a real form of abuse of children. Children are exposed at alarming rates when they access this. And it’s doing damage to them.

So I’m a big advocate for protecting children from this kind of content.

Anne: I’m willing to say it’s not even secondhand that it’s just simply sexual abuse. Children are sexually abused when they view it. And I was talking to a friend, and she said she overheard someone give this speech. And they were like, when a child comes to you and says they looked at it. You just need to say two words, and everything will be good. And you look at them and tenderly say, It’s okay, and then that solves everything.

And she and I were like, no! No, that’s not what you say. You don’t say, it’s okay. You say, I’m so sorry. That should never have happened to you. That is a form of sexual abuse. I know you probably had some feelings going on because you’ve got a body, so you’re half curious, half traumatized. You talk about that stuff, but you should never say to a kid when they see it, it’s okay.

Don’t say many people have viewed it, or that’s happened to everyone. You should not say that. You should say, I am so sorry. That should never have happened to you. Or the person in it who is a victim of distribution of intimate images without consent.

Laila: Yeah, yes, I agree with that.

Children Traumatized By Viewing

Laila: And I’ve also been in touch with so many distraught parents, especially the last year and a half. They told me stories of their children. Viewing this content traumatizes them. What happens is serious. And in some cases, they’ve said, my son, after viewing the homepage of P____b, believed he witnessed an attack. And based on what we know about P____b, it’s likely that he witnessed an actual assault. That is distribution of intimate images without consent.

He believed it was real. Even if it was staged. They said he wasn’t the same after that. He changed. Viewing it traumatized him in a very concrete, real sense. And had to go into therapy, and they’re still working through that. It’s months and months later after exposure. In other cases, parents have told me about situations where their children had viewed it and then acted out what they saw on their siblings.

So basically a situation of assault and sexual assault against a younger sister, and that’s not uncommon to hear those stories. So I think it’s so important for us to see the seriousness of this. And handle it in a way that recognizes the real lasting trauma that could happen to children when they get exposed. And then we need to start advocating for protection. We need mandatory age verification laws. I was so encouraged to see what Germany is doing.

Distribution Of Intimate Images Without Consent: International Legislative Efforts

Laila: Germany is taking it so seriously that they’re on the brink of shutting down these sites, and the major tube sites in the country. Turning the switch off because they refuse to verify the age of users and protect children from this content. Because they recognize that it’s harmful to children.

Anne: Go Germany!

Laila: Yeah, exactly! And there are other countries, Canada has a bill introduced to do the same. Where they would require age verification for any site that hosts it. I think Australia is also looking into this, and the UK has taken this seriously. So I’m hopeful that we’ll get to a point where we are collectively having a new attitude about this and taking the harm to children very seriously.

Anne: Let’s talk specifically about the trafficking hub movement. And what you do to stop the harm done by P____b and also hold companies accountable that are profiting from assault videos. Video distribution of intimate images without consent.

Laila: Yeah, so going back to where I left off with the story. So I had made that personal discovery, something that so many people had already known. Tthat all it took was to upload content onto the world’s largest sites was an email address.

Anyone With An I-Phone Can Produce It

Laila: So anonymously, anybody in the world with an iPhone could be a producer, record a crime scene and upload it to the site. Nobody was verifying age and consent. And because of that, they set the site up for exploitation. And infested with videos of real assaults, trafficking, assault, child sexual abuse, and also spy cam videos.

People record women without their knowledge in public restrooms, changing rooms, and even teen prom toilets. Then they become victims of distribution of intimate images without consent. They’d installed cameras there and recorded and The site was full of those kinds of things.

Anne: I have met several women in our community whose husbands filmed them with a hidden camera in the shower or while they had sex, and then they uploaded. So we also know that in marriage relationships, this is happening. Husbands secretly film their wives in various compromising circumstances, and upload that.

Laila: Yes, that’s happening quite a lot. Yes, distribution of intimate images without consent. Non consensually recorded and distributed in apps. And that is, yes, again, infested. This type of content infests these sites. When distribution of intimate images without consent happens, people record women. And they don’t even know. And then they upload it sites.

P____b had a download button on every video, where anyone in the world, 130 million visitors per day, could download and own it for free. That trauma of that individual or that non-consensual video recorded and distributed. And then uploaded forever again, and again, and again. It gets completely out of control once it’s uploaded in the first place. So the trauma to victims of this, they call it the immortalization of their trauma.

MindGeek’s Monopoly & Accountability

Laila: Where it’s one thing to experience an assault. It’s another thing to know that that assault will be used for profit long after they’re even gone. Because of distribution of intimate images without consent. And so, all that to say, back when I made this discovery about this issue. This site full of these illegal crime scene videos, I wrote an op-ed about it in February of last year. People were shocked and horrified when that was published. It got an explosive reaction.

Because it has presented itself to the world for so many years. People spend so much money on things like save the pandas, bees, and the oceans. And raise awareness about breast cancer, donate masks for coronavirus to hospitals. And do all these different PR stunts. To make people believe they were this mainstream, ethical, “cute” company.

And when they found out the site was full of child assault and abuse. They were horrified about what was going on. And they said, I want to do something, please start a petition or I will. So I copied and pasted my op ed into a petition for change. Our petition went viral. And now we have 2. 2 million signatures from 192 countries.

And over 600 organizations from 65 countries participated in calling for P____b to be held criminally responsible for what they’ve done. There have been protests outside the MindGeek headquarters. And MindGeek, FYI, MindGeek is the company that owns P____b. MindGeek owns 80 percent, which is the number cited. 80 percent of the online mainstream industry. They have a monopoly on the global mainstream pornography industry.

Distribution Of Intimate Images Without. Consent: Media Exposure & Financial Impact

Laila: Owning hundreds of brands and sites, and they’ve basically swallowed up all the little companies. And rolled it all up into one huge mega corporation, MindGeek. And P____b is just one site of the many, many sites they own, the flagship site. So calling for criminal accountability for MindGeek. Also, hundreds of media articles were written in 2020. And then the New York Times did a groundbreaking investigation and released an expose in December called the Children of P____b.

And this was the harrowing stories of children who’d been abused for profit on the site. They are victims of distribution of intimate images without consent. That resulted in 4, 000 follow-up articles. And within days, Visa, MasterCard, and Discover cut ties with P____b and MindGeek. And then P____b deleted 80 percent of its site. So the 10th most visited website in the world deleted 10 million videos in 24 hours after all this happened.

And they’ve been on a crippling trajectory ever since, obviously financially crippled because they can only take cryptocurrency. But there have also been parliamentary investigations launched. Where the hidden owners of P____b have been forced out of the shadows. They’ve been hiding their identities for years, using fake names and concealing themselves from the public. And they’ve been forced out of the shadows and identified.

Anne: Oh, really quick. I doubt anyone would know who these people are, but who are they? Like, do they own a football team? Are they like doctors, are they like upstanding members of society? Like, who are they?

Hidden Owners Names

Laila: Yeah, I will say their names, because I like saying their names because they have hidden for so long. So Bern Birkmayer. He’s a man from Austria found just weeks ago, actually, by an investigative journalist. Who located him and actually got him on camera for the first time in London. But he also has a residence in Hong Kong. He’s a businessman.

And Farris Antoon and Corey Ehrman. Corey Ehrman has used fake names, Corey Price and Blake White, for years, speaking in the media over and over again. And these are men who run the site, and they profit from male entitlement to women’s bodies.

And the latest lawsuit is on behalf of 34 women. It is based on the testimonies of firsthand accounts of those inside the company, whistleblowers, and other evidence that this is actually a criminal enterprise.

This is organized crime, and they were sued. Using the laws that we go after the mob with. So Rico racketeering, child pornography, trafficking, and all that was a massive lawsuit recently filed. So that’s who they are.

Anne: We talk about all the pain and suffering that trafficking, and child sexual abuse causes to the world in general. And then obviously specific individuals. Who are victims of distribution of intimate images without consent. whIt’s just overwhelming, all the pain and suffering it’s caused. What do you think is next? And then also, how can our community of women who have been so deeply impacted in their homes by it. How can they help this cause?

Laila: I agree. There have been people and advocates who’ve been pioneering. And pushing back against this for so many years, and it’s so exciting to see traction.

The Power Of Collective Action

Laila: And see the mega-predator, is what I call Mind Geek and P____b accountable. Truly kind of a villain situation where you have the villain and the victims. And to see victims obtaining justice, getting their voices heard, exposing the criminal enterprise as the lawsuit called it behind all this. It’s so encouraging and exciting, but we’re not done yet. P____b and MindGeek are severely crippled. And we’ve already seen a domino effect within its largest competitor.

So the New York Times also did an expose after P____b on XVideos. And PayPal stopped doing business with XVideos. And they’re under criminal investigation in the Czech Republic where they’re based. There’s been a shaking and reckoning within this industry. But we’re not done. We want to see real, full justice. And for me and the victims I’ve spoken to, what that means is restitution. For the distribution of intimate images without consent of the individual.

We want successful civil litigation. And there have been six lawsuits. On behalf of 97 women launched against MindGeek since the summer of last year. And three of them are class actions for trafficked minors. But we want to see these successful. We want to see these victims compensated. And then we want to see criminal prosecutions of the executives responsible for this. Ultimately, what I see and victims see as justice is to see the site shut down. To see it actually shut down.

Because you think about Harvey Weinstein when he was caught raping women. They didn’t let him just say sorry and go on his merry way. That’s not how the law works. That’s not how justice works. He needs to be put in prison for sexual abuse, criminal sexual abuse.

How to Get Involved To Stop Distribution Of Intimate Images Without Consent

Laila: So we need to see the same thing. We don’t let them hide behind a corporation. When this actual mass abuse has happened for so long. You want to be part of this, with so many organizations and advocates, individuals and victims. Who’ve joined this movement to hold MindGeek accountable and stop distribution of intimate images without consent. Sign the trafficking petition at traffickinghubpetition.com. Share it, and also speak with your representatives. They work for you.

And raise this issue with them and tell them we need to see the Stop Internet Sexual Exploitation Act passed. This is one way to help stop human trafficking and exploiation. And that would require age and consent verification for every individual in every video on these sites. You can go to justicedefensefund.org and read about what we’re doing to empower victims to pursue civil litigation against their abusers. Because these corporate abusers care about finances above everything.

And so if we can hit them where it hurts, in their bank accounts and on behalf of victims, that’ll also help to really rein in this criminal enterprise.

Anne: There are many women and people I talk to, and many people roll their eyes when I talk about it. Yeah, we know it’s bad, but trying to stop it, are you kidding me? You could never do that. And I always think, absolutely, we can. I don’t know how long it will take, I don’t know how we will do it. But we have to think that we can do something to actually do it. In the Christian faith, faith the size of a mustard seed can move a mountain.

Personal Safety & Empowerment

Anne: So it starts with us believing it’s possible. And for my community, the first thing they need to start believing is that they themselves can get to safety in their own homes. Number one thing on their list is emotional, physical, and sexual safety in your own home. As a victim myself, your own heart leads you to try and help others. Will you say that website will be one more time where they can sign that petition?

Laila: Yeah, traffickinghubpetition.com. Awareness is the doorway to action, so we can stop distribution of intimate images without consent. You know, people can’t act on something they’re not aware of. And with regard to all this, in the industry, and people not taking this seriously. Or kind of joking about it.

I think what is helpful is when people realize the real harm this is doing. To real victims in front of the screen and behind it, and to begin seeing this as the real human rights issue it is. And so get people to safety. For those used behind the screens, that’s a great thing. And those, like children exposed to this, prevent them from being exposed to this. Prevent that sexual abuse from ever happening. That’s a lot of effort, and if we can do that, that’s a huge victory.

Anne: For one woman to become emotionally, psychologically, and sexually safe in her own home. That is a huge victory for her. And it’s also one of the battles in this war. Each one of us is a piece of this puzzle. If you are on this journey and need support, attend a Betrayal Trauma Recovery Group Session today.

Building A Supportive Community For Victims Of Distribution Of Intimate Images Without Consent

Laila: Yes, and never underestimate. What I’ve seen so much over the last year and a half. With this trafficking hub movement, one by one, adding your voice, organizations collaborating, and working together. We can’t take on a multi-billion dollar predatory criminal enterprise alone.

We have to do it together, and that’s the only way we’re going to get traction. So encourage everyone to participate in whatever way you can. So we can stop distribution of intimate images without consent.

Anne: Absolutely, I want to give women hope in their personal lives. That’s why I created The Betrayal Trauma Recovery Living Free Workshop. You can learn more by clicking that link. It helps women take tiny steps. Just one step at a time. Because this whole situation, especially if you’re facing it in your own home, is so overwhelming. With our community, I envision that women are becoming safe in their own homes.

They are becoming an army of healthy women across the world. Who are helping other women get to emotional, psychological, and sexual safety as well. And the idea of that gives me hope when things seem really dark.

Laila: I love the fact that this audience for this podcast is like an army of women. Who are so passionate about this issue because they’ve experienced the hurt of it themselves. And they can empathize and just come at it from a place of such a real motivation. For ending something that you personally experienced in your own life. And can use that energy and passion to help stop this from happening in the future to others. Love what you’re doing in your community.

Anne: Thank you. And we’re so grateful for you and what you do again. To learn more about Laila’s organization, go to justicedefensefund.org.