As we celebrate 10 years as a nonprofit organization this year, we want to extend a huge thank you to every single one of our Fighters around the world. Without you, this movement wouldn’t be what it is today.

When we officially became a nonprofit back in March of 2009, we had a dream that this movement would spread across the globe and be comprised of diverse Fighters from all different backgrounds. Over the past few years, it has been absolutely amazing to see that dream become a reality. We’ve been proud to see the general conversation about porn start to change, and we couldn’t be more impressed by the reach that this awareness campaign has had, all thanks to our supporters. We know that this is only the beginning, and we can’t wait to see where the movement for love will be in another ten years.

We now have a network of well over 4 million supporters, and we’re so grateful to each and every one of you! Because this movement is growing so quickly, we want to take a moment to re-establish and remind the world of exactly who we are and why we exist. As we continue to grow, we believe that you should know exactly who and what you’re supporting as a Fighter.

Whether you’ve been with this movement 5 minutes or 5 years, here are 10 things you need to know about Fight the New Drug as an organization.

1. Fight the New Drug is an educational and awareness-raising organization.

Since 2009, we have existed with the purpose of providing individuals the opportunity to make an informed decision regarding pornography by raising awareness on its harmful effects using only science, facts, and personal accounts. We do this, not by conducting our own research, but by aggregating and giving a platform to the existing quality science and research that exists. We share this research online via social media, and our team presents this research in schools and youth forums around the world to educate individuals about the harmful effects of porn.

A great place to start diving into the available information is by reading our Get the Facts articles, checking out our constantly-updated blog, and visiting TruthAboutPorn.org where we catalog the latest peer-reviewed research that illustrates porn’s harmful nature. You can also check out our documentary series, Brain, Heart, World, for free to learn more about how porn impacts individuals, relationships, and society.

2. Fight the New Drug has no religious affiliation.

Our mission is and has always been to use only science, facts, and personal accounts to educate and raise awareness about the harms of porn. We are extremely intentional in making sure that everything we create, repost, share, or promote is aligned with our mission.

We invite people from all backgrounds or beliefs to apply what they learn from this movement to their own lives, and encourage all of our supporters to remain respectful of the diverse backgrounds of our supporters. Ultimately, we’re raising awareness on a public health issue, and this is information that we think anyone should be able to access, regardless of any diversifying factor.

3. Fight the New Drug has no legislative agenda and does not seek to ban porn.

We are educating and raising awareness, first and foremost, and we are not out to ban or censor porn.

We support efforts to protect children from easily accessing hardcore pornography. However, FTND does not work to take away adults’ rights to view legal forms of pornography. Our goal from day one has been to decrease the demand for porn and sexual exploitation through education, not legislation. We believe in empowering individuals through education to make their own informed decisions about pornography.

4. Fight the New Drug is not choice-restricting.

We accept and respect that an individual has the right to develop their own stance on the topic of pornography, whether or not it is consistent with FTND’s position. We do believe that if people truly understand the impact porn can have on individuals, relationships, and our society, they will make an informed decision not to consume it—but we’re not trying to force anyone to agree with us.

This is why we allow healthy debate and conversation on our social media platforms, welcoming any and all viewpoints from people who span the range on this topic. Ultimately, it is up to each individual to make their own informed decision regarding pornography.

5. Fight the New Drug is not a “modesty” movement.

While we respect people’s personal values, our mission is to educate on the impacts of pornography.

The science-based resources we provide specifically shed light on the impact of hardcore, violent, demeaning, degrading internet porn. Our fight is against the selfish, unequal, harmful ideas that porn teaches, and how it destroys intimacy in relationships. Our fight is against an industry that objectifies people. Our fight is against the inseparable links of pornography to prostitution and to sex trafficking. Our fight is for love, healthy intimacy, and real relationships and connection.

6. Fight the New Drug is not a “porn addict” movement or recovery organization.

Much like tobacco’s TRUTH campaign, our mission is to reach as many people as possible in society to change the everyday conversation about pornography. We accomplish this through our social media campaigns, videos, graphics, conversation-starting tees, and presentation tours.

We are speaking to the average person who likely hasn’t heard the science and research about the harms of porn. That being said, of course, there are many who support the cause and rep the movement who have, at one time, or are currently experiencing the negative effects of porn in their lives. Regardless of if you have or are still struggling with pornography, or if you’ve never personally struggled with porn, our resources focus on raising awareness and educating the general public about the proven harmful effects of porn.

(For those with an active struggle with porn, we invite you to check out our friends at Fortify, a science-based recovery platform that’s available for teens and adults.)

7. Fight the New Drug is pro-sex, pro-love, and anti-shame.

Millions of people across the world consume porn every day—we don’t think that inherently makes them “bad” people. Again, many people who consume porn haven’t been made aware of its harmful effects, which is why we’re hoping to educate them so they can make an informed decision. Science and research are proving the harms of viewing pornography, so we are focusing our efforts on the porn itself and its proven impacts, rather than promoting shame of those who consume porn. Research has shown that feeling shame and shaming other people is unhelpful and unhealthy, and it’s not an approach we take. We are an anti-shame movement as much as we are an anti-porn movement—and we encourage all of our supports to join us in these efforts.

We take great care in our presentations, online content, and overall influence to be a voice of positivity and hope. FTND fights for real love and healthy relationships, including healthy sexual relationships. Thanks to science, we know that porn can negatively affect consumers’ sex lives, which is one of the many reasons we fight against it. Being pro-sex and anti-porn is not only possible, it’s necessary. Given how porn divides people in relationships, stunts sexual pleasure, and messes with consumers’ arousal and sexual function, it’s clear porn is anything but sex-positive, once you look past the surface.

8. Fight the New Drug’s aim is to promote love and healthy relationships.

What is the ultimate goal of this awareness and education movement, you may ask? We exist to empower and equip individuals to enjoy the healthiest relationships possible without the influence of porn—to inspire people to fight for love in their lives.

We exist to educate individuals so that their friendships, family relationships, romantic relationships, and relationship with themselves can all be improved and free from the toxic influence that porn consumption has been shown to have. Thanks to decades of research from reputable organizations and institutions, we see that porn has far-reaching impacts that harm our society as a whole as well as negatively affect consumers and relationships.

9. Fight the New Drug is not looking to shut the porn industry down.

Though it would indicate a massive shift in cultural attitudes around porn if the porn industry collapsed because of lack of demand for its product, that is not our ultimate goal. Our aim as an organization is to reach individuals and give them the chance to make educated decisions regarding pornography. So far, we have reached over 800,000 people with our live, in-person presentations, thousands more with our three-part documentary series, and millions more through our online resources. Our ultimate hope is that people will understand what the research is saying about how porn can negatively impact individuals, relationships, and our world.

It’s ultimately a heartbreaking reality that our organization has to exist in the first place, but everyone deserves to know what research is saying about porn and make educated decisions for themselves.

10. Fight the New Drug is based out of the United States, but we’re a worldwide, grassroots movement.

This organization and this movement were founded in the U.S., and we’re still headquartered here today. But even though we were born in the States, our community of Fighters has grown to reach communities around the world and back again in the last 10 years. As of today, our website and resources have been visited by people in every country on Earth (except North Korea), and there are communities of people from every continent who are repping the movement.

In 2017, to accommodate this growing Fighter community, we introduced translated versions of key resources on our website in four additional languages: Portuguese, French, Spanish, and German. Click here to check out our translated resources. We hope to continue adding additional languages as this movement continues to grow.

Now, it’s your turn

It’s clear from the data that porn’s impact does not stop once the video is over, and the computer or phone is turned off—we’re continuing to see time and time again through people’s own experiences and new studies that it’s anything but harmless, sexual entertainment.

As the conversations about porn continue to change around the world, and this issue morphs and evolves with the introduction of new technology, we will continue to share the latest science, research, and personal accounts that all shed light on how this issue reaches far and wide.

fonte: https://fightthenewdrug.org/10-things-you-should-know-about-fight-the-new-drug/