The Siouxland Coalition Against Human Trafficking is hosting an event on Monday, Aug. 10 from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. in Sioux City. While it is too late to register to attend the event in person, those interested can still register for the livestream option.
Segments of the full conference will be available for up to 60 days after the event for those who want to livestream the presentations.
You can register for the livestream here.
Dr. Josh McDowell is the keynote speaker. McDowell is an international speaker and author. He recently published The Porn Epidemic Portfolio, which documents the research on the impact of pornography on society.
Ben Bennett, who will also speak, is a recovering pornography addict. He’s an author, speaker and evangelist who teaches recovery classes to those currently struggling with pornography.
The event will be catered to pastors, mental health professionals, youth directors as well as anyone who works with young people. It will also be aimed at parents and grandparents as well as any other community members who want to be proactive and understand the problem of pornography addiction, according to Linda Holub, co-chair of the Siouxland Coalition Against Human Trafficking.
In addition to strategies and information on how to proactively protect children, the conference will also address how to deal with pornography once a child has seen it.
“Today’s porn is not yesterday’s Playboy,” Holub said. “It is violent against women, it is humiliating, it is dehumanizing and it is shocking to the soul. Once a child has viewed it, their soul is hurt and they’re going to feel shame. If they aren’t prepared for it, they probably will not tell their parent they’ve seen it and it will eat at them. It is highly addictive – as addictive as a hit of cocaine because it does change brain chemistry. Once brain chemistry is changed, it will take a lot of work to get it back to where it was before.”
One key point Holub added is that the problem isn’t typically children seeking out porn, but porn seeking out kids.
“Children may not be looking for porn, but porn is looking for them,” she said. “Because it is so highly addictive, they know that if they can get them at a young age, they’ll have them forever. Children are one click away from hardcore porn on their computers or their phone.”
Pornography feeds the sex trafficking industry.
“One of the drivers of sex trafficking is pornography,” Holub said. “Pornography is the driver that causes people to want to buy commercial sex. It begins by viewing pornography. Pornography addiction is a little different than drug addictions in that they want to continue but they want different – not just more of the same. They start out with adult porn, then you want younger and younger people until the point that you’re at child porn. Then you start acting out on it and go and buy commercial sex. There’s a direct connection between pornography and sex trafficking.”
Anyone who livestreams the event will also be afforded the opportunity to have discounts on books offered at the end and will receive free shipping.
