NCOSE Released Its Dirty Dozen List—So You'll Know Where to Shop

WASHINGTON, D.C.—As it does every year around this time, the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) has released its 2020 "Dirty Dozen" list, a compendium of companies (and occasionally people) it considers to be enablers of porn and/or sex trafficking—as usual, conflating legal adult entertainment with illegal exploitation. In fact, NCOSE actually expanded this year's list to a "Bakers Dirty Dozen" due to the last-minute addition of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts to the list—and boy, do they have a hard-on (!) for that company! Understand first that they're not actually talking about classy Wyndham properties like Wyndham Grand or Wyndham Garden, or even lesser Wyndham properties like Ramada Inns, LaQuinta Motels, Dolce Hotels and Resorts, Howard Johnson Motor Lodges or Travelodges. No, NCOSE is focused on Motel 6s, which Wyndham also owns, and which NCOSE last week devoted an entire email screed to bashing—and to notify The Faithful that they'd joined a lawsuit against the company. "The NCOSE Law Center is now co-counsel on a case that was filed against nationwide hotel chain Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, Inc. and others for knowingly facilitating the sex trafficking of a 16-year-old girl beginning in 2014," the email stated. "For years, the girl was trafficked in and out of several hotels owned by Wyndham and other chains in Santa Clara County, California, while obvious signs of sex trafficking were clearly and willfully ignored by hotel employees." As always, there's more to this story than NCOSE lets on. For one thing, as pretty much all adults know by now, Motel 6 is a 2-star rated chain much like other hundred-dollar-or-less inns that no one who can afford anything better will stay in—unless it's for a quick tryst with a girlfriend or sex worker—and that's what NCOSE's lawsuit is about. The problem is, the signs of “sex trafficking" cited by NCOSE—lots of used condoms, lube and "other sex-related items"; a lot of "older guys" seen entering and leaving the room; and "excessive requests" for extra sheets, cleaning supplies and room service—could in fact simply be a sign of voluntary, paid sex work—something that can probably be found on a nightly (or daily) basis in most of the motels across the U.S. And of course, NCOSE's other problem with Wyndham is that customers can get in-room porn on the TV. Well, that takes care of the "Baker" part of the Dozen, so who else is on the list? "As forms of commercial sexual exploitation continue to multiply, from prostitution to pornography to 'camming' etc, the phenomenon of 'sugar dating' appears to have become the latest frontier," NCOSE reports. "Sugar dating is marketed as relationships in which young, attractive women can meet 'experienced men' who will provide everything from mentorship to all expenses paid lavish vacations. In this system, men are encouraged to engage in no strings attached relationships with beautiful young women." "Sugar dating" and finding "sugar daddies" are probably as old as society itself, but NCOSE has focused in on one website, SeekingArrangement, as worthy of NCOSE's wrath this year. "SeekingArrangment targets college students who are struggling with student debt with advertisements and free premium accounts, in order to provide sexual gratification to more socio-economically advantaged men," NCOSE charges, adding in bold, "Make no mistake, sugar dating is pseudo-dating prostitution and it is vital to push back against the normalization of such an exploitative trend." You can bet Jeff Bezos, Robert Kraft, Donald Trump and a host of other multi-millionaire sleazebags are just shivering in their boots about this one! So who else is on NCOSE's "radar" this year? How about credit card conglomerate Visa—you know, the one that appears multiple times in your own wallet? "The credit card company/corporation Visa partners with the pornography industry by processing payments for pornography with themes of sexual violence, racism, incest, and the fetishization of minors," NCOSE states, revealing that it's as clueless about what's in most porn as it ever was. "Other major payment systems, such as Paypal, have rejected profits from the sex industry by refusing to allow their system to be used by pornography websites. It’s time to hold Visa accountable." Also targeted are the online services that most people use every day: Google, Twitter, Amazon, and the newest one in the mix, TikTok—which is also the only one to which NCOSE deigned to devote a paragraph, though what it said could easily apply to all of them: "With more than 500 million active users worldwide, TikTok is a social media video app increasingly popular among elementary and middle school-aged children. Due to a lack of moderation and meager safety controls, TikTok has facilitated a space for sexual grooming by abusers and sex traffickers." Yeah, unlike Catholic churches, YMCAs, high school locker rooms, etc. Anyway, here are selections from NCOSE's takes on the rest of its Dirty Dozen list: Massage Envy: "Massage Envy, the largest massage chain in America, with more than 20,000 therapists and 1,200 locations, has been and is being, sued by hundreds of women for failing to take appropriate measures when a massage therapist sexually harasses or assaults a client." Steam: "Steam is a popular gaming platform with over 90 million active users, and approximately 35 million users who are minors... The platform also has hundreds of games that promote gratuitous sexual content, violence, and harassment." (Emphasis in original) Wish.com: "Wish’s meteoric rise in the world of retail rests on child-like sex dolls, spycams marketed for filming women nude without their permission, and misogynistic apparel." (Emphasis, etc.) Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue: "The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue would be more aptly named the Sexploitation Issue. Women of all shapes, sizes, and ages deserve more than being reduced to body parts for men to ogle. This magazine is sending a message that women’s bodies are for public consumption, and any retailer that displays and sells it is condoning the toxic culture of entitlement to the female body." (Emphasis, etc.) Netflix: "Netflix has become a staple of at-home entertainment with over 150 million users subscribing to Netflix across the globe. While the streaming platform provides hours of entertainment with both existing and original programming, a Netflix subscription also includes sexually graphic and degrading content." (Though to be fair, NCOSE does give Netflix props for instituting "pin codes" that parents can set to keep the kids from watching anything naughty, and for putting content warnings on-screen before each show begins.) And finally... The State of Nevada: (Do we really need to say it?) "Nevada is the only state in America with legalized brothel prostitution, in select counties. ... While some may claim that legalization provides better regulation and increased safety—the truth is that sexual violence, racism, and socioeconomic disadvantages are inextricable from the prostitution experience." Yeah! Because being able to legally enter a brothel and offer money to the woman of your choosing to have sex with you is a sure sign that there's sexual violence, racism, and socioeconomic disadvantages going on somewhere! Perhaps of most interest, the White House somehow didn't make it onto NCOSE's list of the world's worst offenders. Go figure!