Our Story
“As a country we don’t know enough about the links between child sexual exploitation and prostitution, pornography, web-camming, lap dancing. To tackle something you have to understand it. You can’t tackle sexual exploitation unless you come at it from every angle.”
Sammy Woodhouse, Survivor & Whistle-blower of the Rotherham child sexual abuse scandal
Speaking at CEASE Conference, Westminster, 2019
CEASE began in 2019 with a core belief
To end sexual exploitation in all its ugly forms, we have to understand what’s driving it. That meant digging down deep to expose the two main root causes of sexual exploitation:
One: Our culture
It’s uncomfortable to admit, but one of the biggest causes of sexual exploitation is the fact that we as a culture have made it completely normal to view people (and especially women) as sex objects.
Objects, not human beings. It’s much easier to harm someone if you see them as a ‘thing’ and not as someone’s sister, mum, friend or child.
Two: Profit
We have turned sex into a saleable commodity – and it’s big business. The international sex trade and the global porn industry are worth billions of dollars.
But of course the sex trade isn’t about sex at all. It’s about paying for sexual access to a woman’s body. She is reduced to a commodity for sale, and used as an exploited object.
Though the sex trade is mostly a black market operation, porn companies and other parts of the sex industry operate in plain sight. They’re on the open internet and on our high streets.
No matter whether the businesses are underground or above it, they’re all driving demand for women, men and children to be sexually abused for financial gain.
If we want to see an end to sexual exploitation in our lifetime, we have to tackle the cultural and commercial forces behind it. That’s what we exist to do, and we won’t stop until it does.
We count it a privilege to collaborate with a broad spectrum of groups and individuals from diverse political, religious and ideological backgrounds. Our work is based on the defence of human rights; on hard facts, top quality research and survivors’ testimonies.
We’re building a UK-wide movement of campaigners against sexual exploitation, and we’re amplifying the voices of the very best advocates for change: survivors.
We work alongside MPs, journalists, frontline charities, survivors, campaign groups and academics to expose the links between and the driving forces behind different forms of sexual exploitation.
We are CEASE. We’re on a mission to end sexual exploitation once and for all. Come with us.
“It always seems impossible until it’s done.” Nelson Mandela
