To: National Desk

Contact: Communications Office, Shared Hope International, 703-351-8062, Brooke@sharedhope.org, Melissa@sharedhope.org

VANCOUVER, Wash., June 16 /Christian Newswire/ -- NBC Universal delivered the final message that The Defenders, a project of Shared Hope International, would not be allowed to buy time for their Father's Day ad, "She Has A Name”. Shared Hope International has therefore purchased time on Fox News and CNN, which will begin running the ad today, June 16th. To view the ad, visit www.thedefendersusa.org.

When asked why the ad was unacceptable, an NBC official responded, “the Defender's ad is ‘anti-pornography’, which is still controversial. The ad is anti-child pornography, which is fine because that is illegal. However, anti-pornography is an issue-oriented stance. They (NBC Standard and Practices) don't accept issue ads." NBC has refused to respond to further emails and calls with the offer to edit the PSA to fit NBC's standards of what is an acceptable ad.

The Defenders chose to place the ad first on MSNBC as a result of the series To Catch a Predator, which has shown hundreds of men, caught on tape, following the lead from their computer to what they think is sex with a 13-14 year old girl marketed on-line. The man is frequently asked on these programs “What are you doing here?”

The Defenders parent organization, Shared Hope International, has researched and investigated the sex industry markets around the world where women and children have been exploited for nearly a decade and have found conclusive answers to the question, "What are you doing here?"

SHI recently hosted the U.S. Mid-Term Review on the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) in America, gathering U.S. government officials, law enforcement and other non-government groups (www.csecmtrusa.com). At the conference, members from the Cyber Crimes Unit of the FBI as well as Homeland Security verified alarming statistics of large numbers of ordinary men starting a secret life of pornography viewing, which led to the use of child pornography. Many of these men then went on to act out their fantasies with younger and younger girls. Shared Hope's research reaffirms:

• The demand is for younger and younger boys and girls.
• The average age of entry into the commercial sex industry is 12.
• Both the client and the victim are increasingly recruited online.
• The first sexual experience of a client was not at the door of the 13 year old; it began long before in privacy with his own computer.
• More than 32 million view pornography online each month.
• 1 out of 5 pornographic images online is of a child.

The Defenders will continue to try to get their message of hope to men listening to NBC by appealing directly to the Federal Communications Commission and the President of Research and Media Development and Chief Executive for Broadcast Standards and Practices at NBC.
For more information on The Defenders, visit www.thedefendersusa.org