NEW YORK, Oct. 26 /Standard Newswire/ --This year, the annual White Ribbon Against Pornography (WRAP) Week runs Sunday, Oct. 25, through Sunday, Nov. 1. WRAP Week is intended to inform the public and public officials about the harms of pornography and the need to enforce obscenity and related laws.

Resources for individuals and groups are available at www.moralityinmedia.org ("WRAP Campaign"). These include information about ordering white ribbons and a sheet describing what citizens can do during WRAP Week and throughout the year, sample letter to U.S. Attorney General Holder, sample letter to state prosecutors, sample Proclamation, and sample prayers and sermons.

MIM President Robert Peters had the following comments:

"Our nation is facing a moral crisis which is giving rise to, among other things, teen promiscuity, sexually transmitted diseases (including AIDS), abortions, children born to single mothers, divorces, sexual abuse of children, rape, trafficking in women and children, on-the-job sexual harassment and lost worker productivity. The costs associated with these problems are incalculable.

"It is clear that the explosion of hardcore pornography on the Internet and elsewhere is fueling this moral crisis. It is also clear that ignoring the problem (the Clinton administration) and failing to take necessary steps to effectively curb the problem (the Bush administration) won't solve the problem.

"The government's ongoing failure to enforce federal obscenity laws should be a matter of great concern to President Obama and Attorney General Holder.

"While enforcement of obscenity laws is not the whole answer to the pornography problem, vigorous enforcement will put many hardcore pornographers out of business and encourage others to get or stay out. It will also send the message that pornography is a moral and social evil. Youth especially need to hear this message.

"The Supreme Court has held that obscenity laws can be enforced against 'hardcore pornography,' and these days most commercially distributed pornography is 'hardcore.' Among other things, hardcore pornography depicts teen promiscuity, group sex, gang bangs, marital infidelity, sex with prostitutes, siblings and animals, sex mixed with excrement, and the rape and torture of women.

"The Court has also said there are 'legitimate governmental interests' at stake in stemming the tide of commercialized obscenity, which include protecting public safety, family life, and morality, and maintaining a decent society.

"Clearly, children also need protection both from exposure to hardcore pornography and from sexual predators who use this material to groom their victims and arouse themselves."