LIFEAlerts

LIFEalerts – Pornography

Pornography

USA – Credit Card Companies dropped Pornhub because of illegal content

Pornhub scrubbed about 60% of their content after they were exposed for hosting videos of rape, sex and trafficking victims. Visa and MasterCard announced that they would prohibit the use of their cards on the pornography site. Before all this, the site allowed people to upload videos without verification. It was later announced that Pornhub videos went down from 13 million to 4.8 million. Pornhub is infested with child rape videos, revenge pornography, spy cam videos of women showering, racist and misogynist content, and footage of women being asphyxiated in plastic bags. More

UK – Extreme porn has become a gateway drug into child abuse

Michael Sheath, counsellor at the Lucy Faithfull Foundation has been counselling people with what he describes as “deviant sexual interests” for a long time. According to Michael, online child abuse has become a global crisis. Every year child abuse images are rising and every month over 900 children are safeguarded while over 700 men are arrested in connection with indecent images of children. He believes there is a dangerous cultural shift in the profile of offenders, brought about by the enormous change that ever increasing extreme pornography is having on the developing teenage mind. Mainstream pornography sites are changing the thresholds of what is normal and I think it’s dangerous. More

UK – Online incest porn is ‘normalising child abuse

Groups that work on the frontline in the fight against child abuse in the UK have warned that an increase in abuse-themed pornography is “normalising” child abuse. Amanda Naylor is the lead on child sexual abuse and has said “We know that for those who have a sexual interest in children the normalisation and encouragement of [child abuse] can escalate behaviour. ‘Fostered children’ are inherently vulnerable and they are being fetishised here. We already know that some adult offenders find vulnerability sexually motivating.” “…Videos of adults posing as young teenagers being abused by older men are very common on all mainstream sites. “These sites are not set up to be moderate. The people watching it are being enticed into seeking out ever more extreme material and seeing it on a mainstream site such as Pornhub normalises behaviour that 10 years ago would have been considered deviant and extreme,” More

USA – Pandemic boredom: Parents watch increasingly sexualized content with their kids

Due to pandemic boredom, it turns out, many parents have started watching increasingly sexualized content with their younger children. According to Carrie Goodman Melissa Henson, a program director for the Parents Television Council, Hollywood is ignoring the huge demographic of families because they simply aren’t interested in programming for families. It’s disturbing that parents are now watching hyper-sexualized entertainment with their kids, although she suspected this trend has been accelerating for a long time. Most kids these days have TVs in their rooms and are exposed to porn before they reach age 12. This is problematic because scientific research shows that children learn how to eat, speak, respond to situations, and interact with others by watching parents, caregivers and television. It is therefore imperative that children learn from healthy material and good examples in order to behave in the best way possible. Young children can, and will, copy what they see happen on television suggests Michigan State University researchers who tested 120 toddlers that were 14 or 24 months of age. Michigan State University Report, Article reporting on pandemic boredom.

USA – Porn is the top source of ‘sex education’ for young adults

Research done by Emily Rothman, a professor of community health sciences at the Boston University School of Public Health, states that young adults between the ages of 18-24, mentioned that pornography was the most-mentioned “helpful” source of information on how to have sex. The findings suggest a need for more education on healthy sexual relationships and on what pornography is about. Prof Rothman is concerned that people could problematically take their information from pornography instead of their parents which would cause them to erroneously assume certain sexual acts which they see on porn sites are going to too elicit a pleasurable response for their partner and then try it without asking for consent. More

USA – Parents Sue EBSCO host because of child pornography

The Thomas More Society filed suit on October 10, 2018 against EBSCO, a nationwide corporation that embeds pornography in databases which it markets to schools for use by unsuspecting school children for their homework and research. In the same suit, the Thomas More Society also sued the Colorado Library Consortium, a tax-supported non-profit corporation that knowingly brokers EBSCO’s pornographic databases to schools and libraries throughout Colorado. This case is about two things: protecting children and calling out corporate deceit, as explained Thomas More Society Senior Counsel Matt Heffron. “EBSCO gets schools to purchase databases by falsely promising the databases are age-appropriate and specifically tailored for elementary, middle, and high school children, Matt explained. More

Philippines – Looking at Ways to Stop the Online Sexual Exploitation Of Children

Yedda Romualdez, a member of the House of Representatives and chairperson of the Committee on the Welfare of Children, expressed alarm over the silent pandemic preying on children. Since the outbreak of the Corona pandemic there has been a sharp increase in sexual exploitation of children and Romualdez called for an investigation into the alarming situation of online exploitation of children in the Philippines. Other means includes strengthening the Anti-Child Pornography Act of 2009. Data from the U.S.-based National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, noted that there were 279,166 cases of online child sex abuse in the Philippines from March 1 to May 24, 2020, compared with 76,561 cases during the same period in 2019. This represented a 264.63% increase in cases, or more than 202,605 incidents. More

Philippines – House bill filed strengthening laws vs online child porn

Fidel Nograles, author of House Bill 7633 (Anti-Sexual Abuse and Exploitation of Children Act of 2020), appealed to the Philippine government to strengthen Section 9. This would mean that all Information and Communication Technology Service Providers (ICTSP) will install available technology, program or software to ensure that access to, or transmittal of any form of child pornography be blocked or filtered. ICTSP will also notify the Philippine National Police or the National Bureau of Investigation within seven (7) days from obtaining facts and circumstances about any form of child pornography they discovered is being committed or has been committed using its server or facility or platform. The Department of Education is also being urged to come up with more effective ways to help children safely cope with distance learning. More

South Africa – Porn exposure warning with Telegram location setting

As many continue to flock to Telegram, abandoning WhatsApp due to concerns about its privacy policy, social media law specialist Emma Sadlier has warned about a Telegram feature which easily exposes children to pornography. This comes after Sadlier discovered that turning on “location” can expose children to inappropriate material such as porn. Parents whose children have downloaded Telegram to ensure that the location is turned off and cannot be turned back on to avoid exposure to such material. “If you go to your Telegram, and you click the people nearby, there are groups nearby and you click any of those groups nearby, there is just crazy porn in all of them. That function gets disabled if you turn off your location features. Other concerns are that pedophiles use this platform and function to lure children into their groups for the purpose of abuse and exploitation. Pedophiles are savvy and now how to lure kids and get them to do what they want. More

LIFEalerts – Sexual Exploitation

Sexual Exploitation

Israel – Men who buy sex will attend workshops to learn how this harms them and women

Instead of fining first-time offenders caught soliciting prostitutes, Israel’s Labour, Social Affairs, and Social Services Ministry will begin rehabilitation workshops which focus on the inherent harm that comes with prostitution for both the prostitutes and the buyers of sex. Designated apartments have been set aside for women survivors of prostitution and their children to help them start new lives. Currently there are 13 centers for teenage and young prostitute survivors and 3 centers for older women. This program includes financial aid, a therapeutic program that prepares them for integration in employment and an educational program to help women develop academic and employment skills.

A survey found that, on average, 26,500 transactions for prostitution are made each day, and that a woman prostitute has to meet with an average of five and a half customers per day. Another finding was that 62 percent of women working as prostitutes in Israel are mothers. Many of the women expressed a desire to get out of prostitution; more than 76 percent said they would leave prostitution if they could and 71 percent said they remained prostitutes due to financial troubles. Since 2010, at least 104 women prostitutes have died, at the average age of 40. More

USA – The rise of sugar dating in Ottawa

University students are exploring the complicated world of trading time and affection for money and presents. Cate Newman talked to one student about her dates with older men, and local experts who claim sugar dating is on the rise. One girl nick-named Jess, said after trying it out that although it seemed fun to try out at first, she wouldn’t do it again. She’s not well off and recognizes the exploitation side of sugar dating. Ottawa is the 10th most lucrative city in North America for sugar dating. Carleton University has the fifth fastest growing sugar baby population of all Canadian universities with 414 students registered, while the University of Ottawa is ranked 10th with 390. 

According to personal reports of former sugar babies and the tragedy of deaths, the world of “sugar dating” is a candy-coated version of prostitution. While the exchange of sex for money is not explicitly stated, the expectation is clear. Wealthy, older men (and sometimes women) offer to “spoil” younger women (or sometimes men) with gifts, money, and trips, in exchange for their time and attention. This transactional dating is glamorized on the numerous sites that promote the practice. Photos of beautiful young women on the arms of handsome, silver foxes paint a sexy, enticing picture. But the reality is often far different. And far darker. The dangers are real especially since anonymity plays a role, this can often involve married older men, the possibility can also be that there is a con man or a psychopath. These situations describe the inherent dangers of prostitution as well and although numerous media articles seek to argue that there is a ‘clear difference’ between sugar dating and prostitution, there really is not. Article 1, Article 2.

LIFEalerts – Euthanasia

Euthanasia

Spain – Signs death sentence for the weakest

Euthanasia or Physician-assisted suicide is already legal in Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Switzerland, several US states, and Western Australia and Spanish lawmakers are joining them. During the recent parliamentary debate in Madrid, some members saw this move as a step forward in civil rights bringing more liberty to citizens. On the other hand, it was said how euthanasia amounted to “signing death sentences for the weakest.” The law says that patients must be given full information about their condition, including palliative care & any other alternative options available. The request to commit suicide via a doctor must also be given in writing and then repeated 15-days later. Doctors are also permitted to refuse providing Euthanasia.

A poll showed the majority of Spaniards supported the right of someone to choose such a death, if only they knew what is taking place in countries that have gone ahead of them, the feeling would be different. In Belgium nurses admitted to euthanizing patients without their consent. A mother in Argentina wanted to kill her son who has cerebral palsy because she’s exhausted and fed up with caring for him. In the Netherlands, a woman seeking help, and not death, with post-traumatic stress disorder was told she met the criteria to be euthanized on her first appointment. In Canada, a wife lost a lawsuit to prevent her husband’s death by euthanasia, another incident described a psychiatrist in Oregon who determined that an elderly woman with dementia was mentally unable to consent to assisted suicide, and believed her daughter was pushing for it, but it happened anyway. In USA, Texas a disabled, 46-year old African American man named Michael Hickson, was euthanized without his consent or that of his wife. The doctor said it was better to euthanize Michael because he is paralyzed and not like “walking and talking people.” Studies on why the elderly is seeking Euthanasia reveal how fear of being a burden to the family, and depending on others, loss of quality of life are motivations for euthanasia. Another tragic incident where a Canadian elderly woman was euthanized because she feared the loneliness that comes with lockdown! If Spaniards knew the underreported and ignored cases like these, they would see that Euthanasia is not about helping people, it’s about pressuring them to die when their quality of life would get in the way of society

More:

Argentine mother seeks to euthanize son who has cerebral palsy

Wife Loses Lawsuit to Prevent Husband’s Euthanasia

COVID-19 patient was black and paralyzed, so doctors decided his life wasn’t worth saving

Dutch mental health patient angry at euthanasia offer

Warning to Britain as almost half of Belgium’s euthanasia nurses admit to killing without consent

Elderly Canadian woman euthanized because she feared loneliness during lockdown

Assisted dying round-up

Spanish Lawmakers Pass Bill Allowing Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide

Switzerland – Let’s vulnerable, healthy 87-year-old man die

Those who end up committing suicide are generally people who are clinically depressed, a biochemical dysfunction that can be treated. Suicide among people with serious handicaps are almost non-existent. Patients usually tell others their wish to die but whether they continue to feel this way and request or commit suicide is heavily influenced by the type of response they receive. Kees Kentie, an 87-year-old man, with the help of a new euthanasia organisation, died by euthanasia. He was not terminally ill, just frail, tired of life and feared increased decline of his health and sought to stay in control until the end. What if Kees waited? perhaps he would have met a group of encouraging friends who would not only help him if things got difficult but who would make him feel that life is indeed worth living for? What was it that made Kees so tired of life that he wanted to die hopeless? More

Netherlands – Factors that influence rates of euthanasia requests

An analysis of health insurance claims data, published online in the journal British Medical Journal Supportive & Palliative Care shows a 7-fold unexplained variation in rates of euthanasia across The Netherlands. Euthanasia has doubled and is on a continuous rise since the country legalized it fully in 2002. 85% of all euthanasia cases were carried out by family doctors. Age, church attendance, political orientation, income, subjectively assessed health, and availability of community volunteers all emerged as potentially influential factors. Euthanasia was at its lowest in regions with churchgoers and also in regions with high percentage of community volunteers. Progressive political views and higher household income and good self-reported mental and physical health were associated with higher rates of euthanasia, researchers suggest that the healthy may be more inclined to ask for assistance in dying when they do suffer. Article, Study.

LIFEalerts – Abortion

Abortion

UK – Top medical bodies: Don’t pressure women to have abortions

The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, the Royal College of Midwives, and the Society and College of Radiographers have come together advising all medical professionals not to pressure pregnant women into having abortions if their unborn child is diagnosed with a possible disability. This comes as a response to the growing number of reports from women facing such pressure. Women report that their decisions continue pregnancy is challenged by staff, pressured into changing their minds, and they get asked repeatedly if they would consider abortion or more tests. The statement says that the choice of parents should be respected and accepted, not pressured into changing their minds. More

USA – A new lawsuit against NY abortion bill claims it enables domestic violence

A class action lawsuit was filed recently against Governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo and other state officials. The plaintiffs are women who are victims of domestic abuse. Plaintiffs claim the new definition of the Reproductive Health Act incentivizes domestic violence by removing criminal penalties for the death of unborn children who die because their mothers were threatened or abused. The Act no longer considers an unborn child as a victim of homicide and therefore escalates the threat of harm to women. The women are being represented by attorneys who are serving as special counsel to the Women’s Alliance Against Violence, an initiative of the Thomas More Society that challenges laws endangering women and children. More

USA – Ohio state bans telemed DIY abortion pills

Senate Bill 260 was signed into law on January 9th which bans Ohio doctors from prescribing abortion-inducing drugs through the use of telemedicine. According to the FDA, 22 women died from a range of complications induced by the abortion drugs as part of the greater 2,740 cases of reported complications associated with the abortion drugs. Using telemedicine will likely promote the unsupervised and dangerous sale of abortion drugs to women all over the world with no physician oversight. Victims of human trafficking and pedophilia are also a vulnerable group that the abortion industry will help in hiding their crimes through telemedicine usage. More

World – Amid COVID-19 pandemic, Abortion remains world’s #1 cause of death

Globally, abortion has remained the major cause of death in 2020 for unborn children when compared to all deaths from cancer, malaria, HIV/AIDS, smoking, alcohol, and traffic accidents combined. Statistics, according to the respected Worldometer website, show how COVID-19 deaths in 2020 reached 1.8 million – which is still a devastating number. According to the Guttmacher Institute, abortions worldwide are estimated to be around 121 million abortions between 2015 and 2019. Which means that 73 million abortions per year. Entire populations of countries like the UK (68 million), Italy (60 million), South Africa (59 million) and Kenya (54 million) are all lower every year than the number of annual abortions as estimated by Guttmacher. More

South Africa – Many articles claim abortion is still the best option for women

Some south African articles still insist that abortion is better if women do it legally or specifically within a health care setting then the procedure is safe and there can be no complications. An article by The Daily Maverick also insists that a woman, who can end the life of her unborn child, has more autonomy. Reports from around the world and more recently from USA Pennsylvania contradict these beliefs. A new report from Pennsylvania Department of Health show that in 2019, there was an alarming increase in abortion complications reported by physicians which was much higher than the 179 injuries documented in 2018. So even in a regulated health setting, women still get injured. Legal abortion does not protect women from this and neither from psychological problems that surface after an abortion – sometimes after years. Women with a history of abortion reported suffering from mental problems like depression, anxiety, feelings of anger and regret, and the inclination to commit suicide. Some women reported suffering damaged relationships with their husbands and children because of the anger and regret reported studies published in the British Journal of Psychiatry and the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons.

If South African media outlets continue to promote abortion as amounting to safety once made legal, unsuspecting SA women will be sitting with a bigger burden than the one they had before. Who then will help these women pick up the pieces when the damage is done? Will the media who insisted that abortion is free of consequences? Can we blame SA health practitioners for refusing to be part of this especially if they know this will do greater harm to the mother? The women who viciously advocate for abortion rights are women who have no idea of what this will cost them. They are oblivious of the fact that such a decision will catch up with them eventually. We’re not giving women more autonomy as some SA media outlet suggests, we’re giving them more mental health problems with no way out.

Women Who Suffered Emotionally from Abortion: A Qualitative Synthesis of Their Experiences, Abortion and mental health: quantitative synthesis and analysis of research published 1995–2009, Pennsylvania Department of Health: 2019 Abortion Statistics, Self-managed abortions set to give women more autonomy.

USA – Abortion industry being taken to court over trafficking of aborted baby parts

For years, Troy Newman of Operation Save America and founding board member of the Center for Medical Progress has been what he calls a legal target for Planned Parenthood. Since 2015 the Planned Parenthood v. Troy Newman, et al. RICO lawsuit continues. Troy is being charged for “racketeering” which really is exposing their criminal scheme to sell babies by the pound. Troy published the now infamous truth about Planned Parenthood’s cash for baby body parts scheme. The bigger the baby, the more money they get for the dead baby. Operation Rescue has been at the forefront of exposing Planned Parenthood and putting their affiliates out of business for decades. More

LIFEalerts – Medical Ethics

Medical Ethics

USA – Vaccine manufacturer Merck shifts focus

Vaccine manufacturer Merck has abandoned development of two coronavirus vaccines, after extensive research concluded that the shots offered less protection than just contracting the virus itself and developing antibodies. The company announced that the shots were ‘well tolerated’ by test patients, but generated an ‘inferior’ immune system response in comparison with natural infection. Merck will instead focus on research into therapeutic drugs labelled as MK-7110 and MK-4482 which aim to protect patients from the damage of an overactive immune response to the virus. Interim results from a phase 3 study showed a greater than 50% reduction in risk of death or respiratory failure hospitalized patients with moderate to severe COVID-19 using the MK-7110 drug. Merck is to receive around $356 million from the US government to fast-track production. More

USA – COVID-19 guidelines for Moderna and Pfizer vaccine administering

The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued new guidance on the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine. Pregnant women should not get vaccinated with Moderna unless they are at high risk of exposure like being a health worker. WHO director of immunisation Kate O’Brien said that clinical trials of the Moderna vaccine were still needed on pregnant women. The report also emphasised the need for facilities that treat allergic reactions to be readily available at vaccine administering sites with regards to Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. Latest guidance from Public Health England states, “The early Covid-19 vaccines do not contain organisms that can multiply in the body, so they cannot infect an unborn baby in the womb.” More

South Africa – Prisoners to get vaccinated first

Outrage is brewing over the government’s decision to vaccinate awaiting trial and sentenced prisoners before ordinary citizens, when vaccines for the coronavirus become available. The reason for this is believed to be due to confinement and overcrowding and therefore prisons are considered to be the prime sites for the virus. Phase one will mean that frontline workers such as healthcare workers will be vaccinated first, Phase two will vaccinate teachers, police, municipal workers and other front-line personnel. People with comorbidities and people over 60 years of age, institutions including old age homes, shelters and prisons will be prioritised. Phase three will then vaccinate the remaining adult population. Experts, including the World Health Organization said the reason why prisoners should be prioritised was that when they (prisoners) contract Covid-19, they can easily and immediately transmit the disease to their fellow prisoners and prison staff as well as healthcare workers who treat them. More

LIFEalerts – Substance Abuse

Substance Abuse

USA – New Study: legalized marijuana states show youth usage increases significantly

The most authoritative study on drug use conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA) found significant increases in youth marijuana use in several recently legalized marijuana states. At the same time, mental illness indicators worsened across the country while alcohol, cocaine, and tobacco use dropped, especially among young people. The moment states legalized marijuana, consumption climbed even higher compared to when it was illegal. In non-legal states marijuana use dropped. This proves that we have not lost the war on drugs as marijuana/cannabis proponents suggest, and it also tells us that the proponents did not base their arguments/reasons for legalising on sound science. Legalized marijuana is devastating the youth in these states while marijuana proponents profit. More

South Africa – plans to reduce crime and violence with stricter rules on alcohol and substance abuse

President Cyril Ramaphosa plans to combat high rates of crime and violence by reviewing regulations to reduce alcohol and substance abuse which he said are major contributions to the perpetration of violence. The president said that the temporary restrictions placed on the availability of alcohol under the state of disaster regulations have demonstrated the extent to which abuse of alcohol fuels violence, trauma and reckless behaviour and places a burden on our health system and emergency services. This was named as the ANC government’s key priority in 2021 and will achieve this by increasing the drinking age to 21 years, introducing 100-metre radius limitation of trade around educational institutions, banning any alcohol sales and advertising on social and small media; and introducing new liability clause for alcohol-sellers. Government plans to totally prohibit use and consumption of alcohol by all motor vehicle operators on South African public roads. The National Road Traffic Act currently enables those who have consumed alcohol to get behind the wheel provided they are under the blood alcohol limit; the new plan is to remove any trace of alcohol in the blood or on the breath. More

South Africa – SA teens are succumbing to cannabis addiction

Has the government’s decision to legalize cannabis encouraged it’s use? One mother writes to Parent24 with a broken heart over her 15 year-old who smokes cannabis. She says that her son is an intelligent boy but now his school work is going down. The South African Community Epidemiology Network on Drug Use says this is unfortunately not uncommon, and that 36% of patients admitted to rehab centres for substance abuse were aged 10 and 19. A recent most authoritative study on drug use conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration found significant increases in youth marijuana use in several states that have recently legalized marijuana/cannabis. The moment states legalized marijuana, consumption climbed even higher when compared to when it was illegal. This could indicate what SA can expect since it legalized marijuana/cannabis. ‘He has gone back to smoking dagga again’: How to handle teen drug addiction, NEW HHS DATA SHOWS SIGNIFICANT YOUTH DRUG USE INCREASES IN LEGALIZED STATES.

South Africa – Study: great proportion of violent patients have history of substance abuse

Research conducted by three psychiatry experts from Weskoppies and the University of Pretoria found that a great proportion of violent state patients admitted to Weskoppies Psychiatric Hospital, Gauteng, have a history of substance abuse. These crimes included murder, attempted murder and rape. These offenders were sent to the facility because courts declared them unfit to stand trial. The psychiatry experts studied the clinical files of 140 patients admitted to the hospital’s forensic unit from 2005 to 2014. It found that 55% of the 140 patients had a history of substance use. “The consistent finding of high rates of individuals with a history of previous psychiatric treatment and substance use highlights this as an important area of future research, where the focus could be on possible interventions to minimise violent behaviour in this population,” the study read. The findings were published by the South African Journal of Psychiatry in its last issue for 2020. More (link to study will follow soon)

LIFEalerts – Alternative Medicine

Alternative Medicine

South Africa – Doctors plead with Ramaphosa to review Ivermectin

A petition has been signed by close to 100 South African healthcare professionals appealing to the President to set up an urgent special council to conduct a rapid review of the antiparasitic drug.  A general practitioner from Durban, Dr Naseeba Kathrada, penned a heartfelt letter to the president. The product is used for the treatment and control of parasites in animals and is currently not registered for human use in the country.  Ivermectin has been around since 1975.  It is FDA approved and authorised for human use in many countries around the world. Four countries have now added it to their Covid Treatment protocol. Ivermectin has won the Nobel prize in medicine.  There are hundreds of studies done already and new data is emerging daily showing the promise of Ivermectin. More

India – Undigested pills block stomach

Several undigested tablets were found in a patient’s stomach. Doctors in a Kolkata hospital found these alternative medicines in the small intestine of a 56-year-old Salt Lake resident. The undigested pills that the patient had been consuming for three years had resulted in critical stomach blockage, pain and digestive issues. During an MRI of the stomach to detect what was causing the blockage doctors saw huge patches of foreign objects in his abdomen. Removing foreign particles like dentures from the gastrointestinal is a common operation. Deb Kumar Roy, consultant GI surgeon said, “But we were shocked to see thousands of undigested pills of various brands intact.” DFL is of the opinion that all alternative medicinal measures should be tested and approved before promoting them as equivalent to tested medicine and methods that prove successful. More

LIFEalerts – Paedophilia

Paedophilia

USA – Twitter sued for refusing to remove child porn images

Recently, Pornhub was dropped by major credit card companies, after a legal battle with numerous sex abuse survivors exposing the porn site for failing to remove the victims’ abuse videos. Now another child sex abuse victim is suing Twitter. The National Center on Sexual Exploitation Law Center (NCOSE), The Haba Law Firm, and The Matiasic Firm jointly filed a federal lawsuit against Twitter on behalf of a minor who was trafficked on the social media platform that boasts more than 330 million users. At age 16, Plaintiff John Doe was horrified to find out sexually graphic videos of himself — made at age 13 under duress by sex traffickers — had been posted to Twitter. Peter Gentala, from NCOSE said “Despite its public expressions to the contrary, Twitter is swarming with uploaded child pornography and Twitter management does little or nothing to prevent it.” “Twitter clearly needs to properly address the egregious issues of exploitation and abuse happening throughout its platform. We hope that John Doe receives some measure of justice and that this lawsuit will pave the way for other survivors to seek justice,” Gentala said. More

USA – California says that kids aged ten can consent to sex with adults

U.S. State California has said that kids aged ten can consensually have sex with adults and President Biden is in full support for of this. But science and basic biology and psychology disagree. Young children can’t understand sex or its role in relationships, and the images they see can leave a lasting impression. It’s a basic premise of marketing that what we watch, read and direct our attention toward influences our behaviour. And, as any marketer knows, sex sells. According to Melissa Henson, a program director for the Parents Television Council, Hollywood is ignoring the huge demographic of families because they simply aren’t interested in programming for families. Now we see parents and children watching hypersexualized entertainment together.

Research shows that children who are exposed to sexually explicit material and in other media tend to want to engage in these behaviours themselves. This does not translate to them being at all developmentally ready, nor are they emotionally, socially or intellectually ready for sex with peers or even more so with adults. Therefore, to support child-adult sex can amount only to support for child sexual abuse and for obvious reasons this is problematic and even criminal.

Article, Pandemic boredom: Many parents watch increasingly sexualized content with their kids, Overexposed and Under-Prepared: The Effects of Early Exposure to Sexual Content, Long-term consequences of early sexual initiation on young adult health: A causal inference approach.

LIFEalerts – Medical Ethics

Medical Ethics

Australia – Surgeons to have patients’ psychiatric evaluation before cosmetic or otherwise surgeries

A paper published in the Medical Journal of Australia warns surgeons to be cautious about taking on a patient whose had numerous past procedures performed by a list of different practitioners, which they refer to as “inadequate”. Patients need to have their psychiatric history and state of mind assessed before cosmetic procedures are performed because certain psychiatric disorders – such as body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), depression or a psychotic diagnosis – can present with a heightened concern about the way in which the patient looks. The surgeon should clearly outline what is realistic, and what the risks and complications might be. A psychiatric evaluation would prevent instances of unrealistic expectation and unnecessary litigation. More

South Africa – Telemedicine was an expensive lesson for one woman who sought cosmetic surgery

The Health Professions Council of SA had previously banned all telemedicine consults, except for telephonic prescriptions, – but due to pressure and being in line with global trends of virtual consults – the council relaxed restrictions for the pandemic only. One woman with scoliosis who wanted cosmetic surgery from a Medical Spa in Sandton, had to pay R120 000 to secure her appointment without a physical consultation and without adequate consultation. After doing some research, Rania discovered that she was at heightened risk for things to go wrong and wanted a refund but was told there are no refunds and then ignored. It turns out that the same clinic was sued for trademark infringement. This should caution practitioners and patients/buyers to make full disclosures and first have a physical consultation before paying for procedures. More

LIFEalerts – Substance Abuse

Substance Abuse

South Africa – Cannabis bill angers cannabis consumers who intend on doing things illegally

South Africa’s draft Cannabis for Private Purposes Bill has made some Rastafarian cannabis consumers quite upset. If the bill is passed there will be a maximum jail term of 15 years for dealing in cannabis, smoking in public earns two years of jail time, and smoking around children would be punishable by four years in jail. At home you may grow up to four flowering plants if you live alone, and eight plants if there are two or more adults. You may possess 600g of dried cannabis if you live alone or 1.2kg if there are two or more adults in your home. The Rasta Business Foundation members marched to Durban City Hall in protest complaining that the government gives police too much leeway to enter people’s properties, and also criticised the amount legal to possess. The motive of groups that advocate for cannabis becomes clear that it’s not really about health and well-being but that dealing was also their intention and police who would ensure legal activities is a problem for them. Why else complain unless you plan to do illegal trade. More

USA – Benadryl challenge sends many teens worldwide to the emergency room

The ‘Benadryl’ challenge, which encourages users to overdose on the drug to achieve a hallucinatory state, first did the rounds on Tiktok back in May, when three teenagers were hospitalized in Texas. One of the three a 15-year old in Oklahama City died. In small quantities the drug heals fever and cold symptoms, larger doses can cause hallucination, heart trouble, seizures, coma and death. After this, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a warning of the dangers with high doses and that parents should lock up medicine beyond the reach of children. Other cases of teens overdosing on Benadryl and heading for the emergency room are popping up nationwide in the United States, Europe, Australia and certain Asian countries. Article, Article 2, Video

USA – Another TikTok Trend endangers teens: Nutmeg challenge

A toxicologist explains what happened to a 19-year-old’s brain who made TikTok videos of himself after he drank an entire bottle of nutmeg spice in a protein shake. GG’s immense thirst made him drink 14 litres of water over a few hours which did not quench his thirst nor could he urinate. Like everything that’s herbal and natural, nutmeg has hundreds of chemicals in it. Natural things are all made of chemicals. GG had nutmeg poisoning and hyponatremia (Low sodium presence in blood) and caused his organs, heart and brain to swell with water. Fortunately, no herniation occurred in his brain and the 3% sodium infusion was enough to solve the hyponatremia and draw the water out of his brain. Upon regaining consciousness, he realized that no amount of views on TikTok made that terrible experience worth it. More