Actress Demi Moore is putting out some misleading information and raising false red flags about her elitist, exclusively foreign cause to end sex slavery in order to raise money from her American audience.
Moore is inaccurately meshing statistics between foreign-based forced sex trafficking and those of U.S. prostitution, thus leading her American audience to believe that the third-world injustice is a domestic concern.
"What we've categorized as a prostitute is not necessarily what we think," Moore said. "It is not always somebody who's choosing this as a profession."
Moore said on The View in October that most prostitutes are young girls "looking for love," but who are "manipulated" by pimps.
Sex Trafficking Statistics
Her melding of prostitution with sex trafficking thereby included the United States among the industrializing and third world nations that largely contribute to the problem.
Trafficking in all forms (labor, sex, etc.) amounts to less than 1 million people worldwide. In Amercia, the State Department estimates the number of domestic and imported sex and labor slaves to be in the "thousands."
Differing Penalties for Prostitution and Sex Trafficking
"Our next real big push is for criminalization," Moore said. "The buyers and sellers have very little reprocussions."
Moore incorrectly stated that local laws are more stringent for "pimps" than prostitutes.
"These young girls, even if they're under age, if they get arrested they have a felony charge which removes their ability to pursue careers in nursing, law enforcement," Moore said.
In most states, including California and New York, pandering and prostitution carry the same misdemeanor penalties for intial offenders. Normally, only repeat prostitution offenses are felonies.
Sex trafficking, however, is a federal offense in most countries, including the U.S., where violators are charged under the 2000 Trafficking Victims Protection Act.
In 2006, about 100 individuals were charged in the U.S. for sex trafficking; 98 were prosecuted, and faced a maximum penalty of 20 years.
Moore's Nonprofit
The website for DNA confirms that donations raised for sex trafficking relief will be disbursed internationally.
A specific target for U.S. dollars, according to the website, is India.
Moore's non-profit, DNA (Demi N Ashton), said it plans to join fellow nonprofit, Maiti Nepal, "to help fund their survivor border guard program," along the Nepal - India border.
In India, one in five newborns die within the first 28 days of life.
The extent of Moore's message reaches far beyond her platform and audience.
Along with her ex and nonprofit co-founder Ashton Kutcher, Moore has solicited celebs Sean Penn, Eva Longoria and Justin Timberlake to help with the effort.
She has also managed to align her nonprofit with the Minnesota Vikings' Adrien Peterson, who has brought in fellow NFL players to spread the message.
Peterson's involvement is speculated to be an atonement for his inappropriate "modern-day slavery" comment made comparing the relationship between the NFL and its players.
Peterson said he will donate $5,000 to the joint effort, "Football for Good," for every touchdown he scores this season.
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