Serena Fleites: A 19-year-old woman has received tens of thousands of dollars from well-wishers to aid her with her schooling and living circumstances after her storey as a victim of Pornhub’s child sex trafficking epidemic was recently exposed.
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nicholas Kristof reported Serena Fleites’ storey in a New York Times column: “At the age of 14, some recordings she’d sent to a crush wound up on Pornhub.” It sent her on a downhill spiral—she dropped out of school out of humiliation, only to have the trauma follow her to the next.
She attempted suicide twice and struggled with an opiate addiction. She eventually became homeless and has been living in her car with her pets, putting her hopes of becoming a veterinarian technician on hold.
Serena Fleites 19 Years Old Child trafficking
Despite multiple attempts to get her videos and photographs deleted from Serena Fleites Pornhub, the videos would reemerge even after they were removed. She isn’t the only one going through this ordeal: Because of a feature on Pornhub that permits abusers to keep putting up such content, many victims find themselves trapped in this cycle. Users can download videos from the site, which means that even if a movie is deleted from the platform, it can always be re-uploaded by someone else.
There’s also the issue of moderators scrutinising content before it’s accepted. According to the claim, Pornhub only has 80 moderators worldwide, according to a former employee. To put things in perspective, Facebook has 15,000 moderators around the world—and even they don’t always succeed in filtering out misinformation.
Kristof provided a bleak image of the contemporary pornographic epidemic, claiming that many preteens and young adolescents have had their photos and/or movies published, either as a result of being trafficked or by lovers or ex-boyfriends. The consequences are long-lasting, with many turning to self-harm, suicide attempts, and, in one case, being murdered by a partner. “An assault finally ends, but Pornhub renders the misery everlasting,” witnesses told Kristof in the article.
We have Jeffrey Epstein times 1,000 with Pornhub,” Kristof said in the post
The paper explains how Pornhub manages to avoid the legal ramifications of having trafficking children on its site while being one of the most popular websites on the planet. Since the study was published on Friday, many people have been outraged by the heartbreaking experiences of survivors, as Pornhub continues to operate with impunity. Credit card firms such as Mastercard and Visa have stated that their partnerships with Pornhub are being re-evaluated.
Laila Mickelwait started a fundraising for Fleites the day after the report was out, and it has since raised nearly $47,000 of the $50,000 goal.
Kristof posted a photo of Fleites on Facebook on Monday, declaring that she is “no longer homeless” and that she had secured a hotel to stay in with the monies raised through the GoFundMe campaign.
He stated, “Readers also gave her housing and jobs, and generally engulfed her in love.” “She’s relieved to be secure and off the streets, and she’s looking forward to getting back to school.”
The fundraising isn’t just for Fleites, but for others like her “who have been used for profit as youngsters on Pornhub and are now coping with the aftermath,” according to the description. The Elevate Academy, a nonprofit that deals with survivors of sex trafficking, is mentioned as the recipient. It is unclear how much of the $47,000 fund has gone to Fleites. Mickelwait and the Elevate Academy have been contacted by The Daily Dot, and we will update the storey if they answer.
On Saturday, billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman tweeted that he has “reached out and offered to pay” for her schooling; the Daily Dot was unable to independently verify this allegation.
Meanwhile, the improvement in Fleites’ life is being celebrated.
“Wow, you can see how relieved she is, and what a lovely smile she has. I’m amazed at how badly our culture treats young women. “I wish her the best and thank you for publishing,” one user said next to Kristof’s photo.
“Thank God for it. “I hope this is a turning point in her life and she can go on to a brighter future,” wrote another.
Update 11:26 a.m. CT on December 9: Pornhub made big policy adjustments in response to Nicolas Kristof’s New York Times piece uncovering difficulties with content starring minors.
Pornhub’s new safety guidelines include that only verified users will be able to upload videos, that downloading videos will be prohibited, and that the moderation process will be expanded.
Pornhub also announced the establishment of a “Trusted Flagger Program,” in which nonprofits will work with Pornhub to report content that violates the site’s guidelines.
A new verification process will begin next year, allowing only submissions from those who have passed an identifying process.
While the new modifications are extensive, they do not include details such as how many moderators would be added to the estimated 80 currently working. Pornhub has been contacted by The Daily Dot.
Nicolas Kristof praised the modifications in a Facebook statement, but added that there is still work to be done.
“We need to ensure that only adults are vetted, and that previous rape films are removed from the platform,” Kristof wrote. “Competitor companies like XVideos, which have displayed even less scruples, must be subjected to the same scrutiny and criticism.”
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