The abuse and exploitation of children.

Photo from unrelated documentary.

Did anyone happen to see "Girl Model"?

It is a 2011 documentary film following a fashion-model scout working in Siberia, recruiting very young girls for the Japanese fashion market.  The scout, Ashley Arbaugh, is a former model herself and though highly successful, her story turns out to be a somewhat nihilistic view into the sad loneliness which seems to haunt the fashion industry, despite individual success stories.  The story bleakly portrays the decidedly non-glamorous side of the industry.

I watched the film well into the night this past weekend.  What struck me the most was the creepy undertone of sexual objectification and exploitation youth are subjected to by contemporary consumerist culture, the market which feeds upon the youth and beauty of the very young.   Though the models are 'paid' and are 'protected' and provided 'housing', their plight is reminiscent of the less benevolent situation of victims of human trafficking and white slavery, the specter of which never seemed far away in this film.  The following expresses my thoughts perfectly.

"This video gives one a very distributing insight into how wealthy nations prey upon the poor in other countries. It’s just a small slice of the exploitation that goes on. This “meat” market, a prelude to sex trafficking, is creepy and ugly, and shocking, and we must do our best to stop it from happening. The fashion industry may look glamorous from the outside, and it’s deceiving." - Matan Uziel of The Fashion Corruption

The film was especially disturbing for me as I understand - to a lesser extent of course - what that is like.  Poor kids, sexually exploited.  Oftentimes the kids may not even realize to what extent - especially when it comes to so called 'consensual' relationships between adults and underage lovers - even when well taken care of.  (Perhaps off topic, but this is a reminder that any legal effort to lower the age of consent should be firmly opposed.)


Vain rejoicing in natural goods: Youth and beauty and perversion.

This past weekend a friend sent an informative article from Vatican Insider by Domenico Agasso titled, Paedophilia: The hit parade of shame.  It was extremely disturbing in as much as it revealed the sexual abuse of infants.  Infants?!

The sharp increase in the number of infants (600 approx.) abused by women (70%) is one of the findings of the “2014 Annual Report – Paedophilia – Crimes against Children” put together by the Meter association, a non-profit organisation in defence of children, founded by Fr. Fortunato Di Noto.

In one year, 574.116 child pornography images featuring children between the ages of 3 and 13 were discovered, plus 95,882 child pornography videos (3-13 years) and 621 paedophilic photos and videos featuring newborn babies. “Behind the figures are children that have been raped and in many cases sodomised and tortured,” Meter says. These numbers “are just a sample of the cruelty they are subjected to.” What emerges is a dramatic picture of violence perpetrated against children between the ages of 0 and 13 years old who are raped by paedophiles and the images then published and exchanged on the web.”

[...]

Furthermore, the internet is a useful tool for paedophiles as “it allows them to use soft forms of verbal molestation or to prepare the ground for a real life encounter.”

Meter lists three types of paedophiles: “the seducer, who is very affectionate and gives the child a lot of presents, obtaining the little one’s silence through manipulation; the introvert, who communicates very little with children and very rarely seduces and the sadist, the most dangerous kind of paedophile, who gains pleasure out of seeing children suffer, physically and mentally: this paedophile lays traps and uses their strength to kidnap and kill the victim in the most extreme cases.” Then there is the “paedophilia voyeur who doesn’t abuse children but uses the child pornography material obtained via the web or through the underground market of photos and videos.”

Finally, Meter warns: “Paedophiles do not look like monsters. They often look like ordinary people you would come across everyday. They are often males with sick and uncontrollable fantasies.” - Vatican Insider

This is absolutely diabolic.

I pray and feel completely powerless - but I continue to pray - for kids, infants, sexually abused, enslaved, tortured and murdered.

From the bondage of the children of Adam, Graciously hear us, O Infant Jesus.

From the slavery of the devil, Infant Jesus, deliver us. 

From the corruption of the world, Infant Jesus, deliver us. 

From the lust of the flesh, Infant Jesus, deliver us. 

From the pride of life, Infant Jesus, deliver us. 

H/T pml