(NAPSI)—Research suggests some 40 million Americans visit porn sites regularly. While watching consenting adults is perfectly legal, there are aspects of the porn industry that can be problematic.

The Issue

For example, studies show about half of avid viewers said their tastes in porn changed so they become more and more interested in more extreme porn that had previously disinterested or even disgusted them.

That means it’s getting increasingly difficult for porn producers to make money without painful, extreme scenes and very young-looking women.

As a result, there is a crisis of suicides, widespread drug and alcohol abuse, and an early mortality rate among young performers whose youth has been exploited and abused for someone else’s pleasure and gain.

What Can Be Done

To help people understand the gravity of the situation, Exodus Cry, a leading global anti-trafficking nonprofit organization, and Magic Lantern Pictures, an award-winning film production company, created “Beyond Fantasy,” a three-episode, highly provocative investigative documentary miniseries exposing the horrific injustices, tragedies, and players of the porn industry. Produced and directed by Benjamin Nolot, founder and CEO of Exodus Cry, it’s available on YouTube at beyondfantasy.com/watch. 

In the series, some of the biggest porn producers and performers describe an industry that profits from ethics violations, coercion, and abuse. 

•Episode 1, “Barely Legal,” highlights the teen genre, porn’s most popular category. Porn industry insiders reveal how producers cast aside ethical boundaries to create content which promotes the fantasy of sex with children. Amid pigtails, playgrounds, and teddy bears, grown men act out sexual fantasies with performers who are at least 18 in real life, but are made to look and act like children. Teens are recruited for their youthful appearance. 

•Episode 2, “Hardcore,” is a bold examination of a porn genre rife with choking, slapping, degradation, and sexual assault fantasies and shows how behind the veil of consent, the women and girls performing these sex acts are often inflicted with grave physical and psychological trauma.

• Episode 3, “Unsafe Sex,” blows the whistle on the appalling lack of workplace safety measures, putting participants at risk for incurable infections such as HIV, and a failed system that treats them like expendable commodities. 

Expert Opinion

“‘Beyond Fantasy’ is a powerful series that uncovers the horrors girls and women face in the sex industry,” said Dr. Caroline Heldman, professor of Critical Theory and Social Justice at Occidental College in Los Angeles. “This documentary leaves no doubt that women in the sex industry face uniquely degrading and violent experiences, and we do a disservice to all women when we ignore whistleblowers in the porn industry.” 

What You Can Do

Former porn performers and survivors are calling on porn producers, directors, and agents to stop recruiting impressionable teens into porn. You can join the thousands of people who have signed a petition to raise the age of entry into porn from 18 to 21.

Learn More 

For further facts about the documentary or the issue and to sign the petition, visit www.endteenporn.com.