New initiative sheds light on pornography's impact on families

SALT LAKE CITY — A 36-year-old woman looked at the bright stars outside her Sandy home and wondered what she should do. Her husband's words burned in her mind. Pornography. Infidelity. Prostitution.

She was surprised, but didn't know why. The behavior had defined their almost 16-year marriage. Still, she had missed the red flags.

As a new bride, she had expected a fairy tale. Instead, her family — which ultimately included five children — had traveled a road to "extreme unhappiness."

She felt inadequate. He blamed his problems on her. She focused on the children. He withdrew from all of them.

Now she knew one thing: "I was vulnerable."

She went inside, walked into their bedroom alone and locked the door.

The next morning he left.

It was six months before he moved back home. It was longer before she could look him in the eyes.

"I am still sickened by how deep and dark it had become," she said.

'Out in the Light'

The story of her marriage and her husband's addiction to pornography, which she and other women agreed to share anonymously in this article, is replayed in homes across the United States.

Today, 47 percent of families in the United States report that pornography is a problem in their home, according to the National Coalition for the Protection of Children & Families, an Ohio-based nonprofit organization working to promote Christian values.

It is no surprise, considering the breadth and reach of pornography; according to Enough is Enough — a Virginia-based nonprofit organization formed in 1994 with aims to make the Internet safer for children and families — worldwide pornography revenue is estimated to be more than $97 billion dollars with $13 billion of that spent in the United States. The porn industry in the U.S. rakes in more money than ABC, NBC and CBS combined. Every second, 28,258 viewers are watching pornography and 372 Internet users are typing adult search terms into search engines. Every 39 minutes, a new pornographic video is made in the United States, according to Enough is Enough.