Sex Trafficking Expert Has 5 Alarming Concerns About ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’

Public shaming is another way that Kink dominates their victims. Their website describes the process: “Girls are stripped naked and tied up in bondage on city streets and then f***** for everyone to see … [they] are humiliated in public … for everyone to see. Women become sex slaves to be used by groups of men … .” I’ll never forget sitting across from Cameron Bay, a former “actress” in the porn industry, as she recounted the horror of enduring such an experience at Kink. In Bay’s case, she was brutalized to the point of needing surgery to recover.

The BDSM community talks a great deal about “consent,” “trust” and “play”—all terms carefully and intentionally crafted in order to imply some code of ethics, and more significantly, a legal construct in which one person can sexually assault another person. How this “consent” is achieved is another matter of scrutiny that I won’t go into here. Typically, the defense from those promoting and profiting from BDSM relates to the concept of consent of the victim.

This defense fails to take into account the international law regarding torture. Instead, international law states that torture is illegal, regardless of consent. In simple terms, this means that BDSM is a human rights violation. Specifically, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 5 states that, “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment” (The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. (n.d.). Retrieved from un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml).

Regardless of the laws and rulings concerning torture, assault and consent, BDSM is on the rise. Ironically, some members of the BDSM community are speaking out against the exploitative nature of the relationship between the Fifty Shades of Grey characters. This should tell us something about the gravity of this so-called love story. Fifty Shades of Grey is not made as a cautionary tale of what to avoid, but as a romantically appealing journey for any unsuspecting young girl.

It is a desperately naïve, dangerous, and reckless presentation of “romance” that lacks any conscience whatsoever and will sadly lead many people into the debased world of BDSM. Irrespective of concerns surrounding the film, Shades of Grey has mainstreamed BDSM; this is a disturbing development in a world already teeming with actual sex slaves and where sexual violence against women has reached epidemic proportions.

5. The entertainment industry and our society in general fail to acknowledge the real harm done to real women as a result of the consumption of sexually violent media like Fifty Shades of Grey.

Make no mistake. There is a tangible consequence that results from the dissemination and consumption of sexually violent media. We must recognize and take inventory of the harm that these so called “fantasies” are inflicting on real women in real time. In order to appreciate the depths of this concern, it is critically important to understand the way that sexually violent media changes societal norms. Studies have shown that there is a powerful and measurable phenomenon called the “media effect” which occurs when media influences our cultural norms and preferences.

Research done over the past 30 years has demonstrated that viewing violent sexual content has the effect of significantly changing attitudes of both men and women toward sexual violence, including rape. In experimental studies, after viewing violent sexual media where women were victimized, men reported that they thought women deserved the treatment (even rape), secretly desired it and enjoyed it. Women who viewed violent sexual content began to believe that they should accept that behavior as normal, desire it and enjoy it—or at least act like they do.

One of the most important considerations in any conversation about Fifty Shades of Grey should be the ability of films like this to alter attitudes about the harmful effects of exploitation and rape. Media produces “permission giving beliefs” that influence people—both perpetrators and victims—into believing that sexual violence is permissible. This means that because of the widespread production, dissemination, and consumption of sexually violent media, real women are being acted out against by real men, and both are seeing it as normal, deserved and desirable.

Furthermore, the detrimental effects of sexually violent media and its ability to normalize abuse goes beyond the confines of “romantic” relationships, like the falsely-labeled romance in Fifty Shades of Grey. Sexually violent media is so ubiquitous in today’s culture that it actually changes the sexual templates of men (and women), meaning that it changes what kind of sex they desire. Women who are victims of prostitution almost unanimously report that violent pornography influences the abusive behaviors of pimps and sex buyers.

Sex buyers begin to desire the kind of sex they see, and they demand it from trafficked, exploited and prostituted women. When a sex buyer’s wife doesn’t want to be tied up, flogged and sexually tortured, he will often fulfill his media-inspired desire with the women he purchases who are not allowed to refuse. Prostituted and trafficked women suffer traumatic brain injuries at rates as high as torture survivors; they are often burned with cigarettes, slashed with razor blades, raped, tied up, punched, kicked and regularly murdered. Many of these violent behaviors are often portrayed through violent media.

As I write this, Fifty Shades of Grey has recently broken box-office records on a weekend that is traditionally supposed to be about love. My heart is heavy for the women and children whose experiences with sexual abuse are being undermined by this production. As a filmmaker, I care about the stories we tell in our culture through film and other forms of media. These stories shape our ideas and values. It is up to us to raise our voices and restore the conscience of our society and to reclaim our dignity from those who seek to steal it. We must take a stand and tell the truth about the impact of sexually violent films on our culture.

 Benjamin Nolot is the executive director of Exodus Cry out of IHOP in Kansas City, and the director of Nefarious: Merchant of Souls.