WASHINGTON, D.C. – from www.liuesitenews.com – Firing off what was called “the first salvo” in a new battle against the porn industry, a broad-based coalition called upon Congress and the Obama administration Tuesday to take immediate action against the producers and peddlers of obscene material who are fueling the sexual exploitation of women and reshaping society into their own pornified image.

At Tuesday’s congressional briefing in the Capitol Visitor’s Center, a standing-room-only crowd listened for 90 minutes to a panoply of speakers – experts in the field of pornography, sexual trauma, and criminal prosecution of obscenity, as well as a former pornography actress – address “the war on illegal ‘adult’ pornography.”

Donna Rice Hughes [pictured], President of the Virginia-based Enough is Enough, told the attendees that illegal obscene material has become so pervasive, especially through the Internet, that it “has reached epidemic proportions.” Obscenity, Hughes explained, “is graphic material that focuses on sex and/or sexual violence.” This includes graphic close-ups, lewd exhibition, and deviance such as orgies, bestiality, incest, and acts of human excretion.

The experts present said that obscenity is often mistakenly thought to be constitutionally-protected material for adults, similar to “soft-core” pornography, known under the law as “harmful to minors/indecent content.”

“Obscene pornography has never been considered protected material by our U.S. Supreme Court, and the porn criminals do not have a right to pollute America with such material,” explained Patrick A. Trueman, former chief of the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, U.S. Department of Justice.

Despite federal law prohibiting distribution of obscene pornography, the majority of commercially-available pornography is considered obscene. The problem is that the laws against such material are unenforced by federal prosecutors, and this, Trueman noted, ends up lowering the bar of community standards.

“The U.S. Department of Justice has a criminal section devoted to the prosecution of obscenity with 93 U.S. Attorneys spread throughout the country whose job is to enforce federal law,” said Trueman. “When they enforce obscenity laws, they help establish community standards. The majority of Americans would like to live in a community with high standards.”

Dr. Gail Dines, professor of sociology and women’s studies at Wheelock College in Boston, warned that unrestricted porn “has seeped into our everyday world, and is fast becoming such a normal part of our lives, that it barely warrants a mention.”

Dines, author of the upcoming book “Pornland: How Porn Has Hijacked our Sexuality,” said that repulsive, violent, and savage acts have become standard fare for contemporary pornography.

Other experts highlighted the human wreckage and social devastation wrought by porn addiction, which fuels the demand for harder and more obscene pornography.

Hughes also observed that the “great innovators” of the porn industry have targeted children with “clever and deceptive marketing tactics” to secure an up-and-coming market of addicted consumers. The tactics are not unlike those once employed by the tobacco industry to get youths hooked on smoking.

“Statistics show that 7 in 10 kids have accidentally accessed pornography and 1 in 3 intentionally,” said Hughes.

“Pornographers also misuse popular cartoons. Children can easily stumble upon DisneyPornland, where they can see their favorite Disney characters engaging in graphic sex acts.”

But tobacco products, and even illegal hardcore drugs, can pale in comparison to the addictive and destructive nature of pornography, according to another expert who spoke at the event.

“Unlike other drugs, we can never remove [pornography] from the system,” said Dr. Mary Anne Layden, Director of the Sexual Trauma and Psychopathology Program, University of Pennsylvania. “It is permanently implanted in the brain. No detox is possible. This is the first time that the mental health field has been asked to deal with an addictive substance that is irremovable.”

Layden’s own research in the field has showed that exposure to porn increases the likelihood of early sexual intercourse, sexual permissiveness and promiscuity, STI’s, seeing women as sex objects, and even forced sex among others. In adults, it can increase the likelihood of viewing rape in a positive fashion, as well as sexual assault, physical, verbal and chemical (drugs, etc.) coercion to have sex, and sexual predation of children.

“Porn is not glamorous. Porn destroys human lives and is destroying our nation. But we can change. We can heal and I am living proof of that,” said former porn actress Shelley Lubben, now founder and director of the Pink Cross Foundation, an outreach ministry to workers in the porn industry. She related her own abuse at the hands of the industry, including the lasting physical and reproductive harm it inflicted on her and other women.

Sixty-six percent percent of all porn performers have herpes, said Lubben, explaining that this rate is 10 times higher than the rate for 20-24 year olds in Los Angeles County.

She also described how doctors would collude in the culture of corruption, violence, and degradation by prescribing the painkillers and drugs that keep porn performers functional.

Lubben, however, said that she found redemption through faith in Jesus Christ, and through “eight hard years of recovery” has been richly blessed by God with “three beautiful daughters and a godly husband.”

She said that things can change for the better if the laws against obscenity are finally enforced. “I can’t fight it by myself,” she said.

“Our efforts today are not partisan because the protection of children, violence against women, addiction and sexual trafficking are not partisan issues,” said Patrick A. Trueman at the conclusion of the briefing.

“The Attorney General previously indicated support for the enforcement of obscenity laws. We are asking that the prosecution of obscenity, which seems to be on hold in the Obama Administration, be given a high priority because of the widespread harm we now know that obscene material is causing.”