National Center on Sexual Exploitation
A United States advocacy organization campaigning against pornography and what it defines as sexual exploitation.
Last updated October 14, 2026
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Overview
The National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) is a United States advocacy organization focused on pornography, sex trafficking, sexual exploitation, and related questions of public policy, technology, commerce, and culture. It began in New York City in 1962 as Operation Yorkville, an interfaith initiative formed by three clergymen who opposed sexually explicit magazines and other material they regarded as obscene or harmful. In 1968, the organization adopted the name Morality in Media (MIM), under which it became involved in major American debates about obscenity law, censorship, broadcasting, adult businesses, sex education, public arts funding, and the regulation of sexual material. The organization’s early work was rooted in the religious right and was predominantly Catholic, although it presented its campaigns as an interfaith defense of public morality and the protection of children. Father Morton A. Hill became its best-known early leader and served as president until his death in 1985. MIM participated in legal and political disputes involving John Cleland’s novel Fanny Hill, broadcast speech, films, public arts grants, adult retail businesses, and federal obscenity policy. Its interventions often placed it on the restrictive side of First Amendment controversies. The group supported stronger obscenity laws and opposed material it considered indecent, while civil-liberties organizations and other commentators frequently characterized its campaigns as censorship. During the 1990s and early 2000s, MIM expanded its pressure tactics. These included boycotts, picketing, lobbying, contacts with landlords and prosecutors, campaigns against adult stores, opposition to sexually explicit artistic works, and support for federal internet restrictions. It opposed comprehensive sex education and criticized safer-sex information that it considered indecent. It also participated in campaigns against same-sex marriage and LGBT-related policies, and it opposed the decriminalization of sex work. The organization’s influence in traditional obscenity politics declined as prosecutors, politicians, and religious leaders became less interested in broad anti-pornography enforcement. In 2015, under the leadership of Patrick A. Trueman, MIM rebranded as the National Center on Sexual Exploitation. The new name shifted the public vocabulary from morality toward exploitation, harm, trafficking, public health, and social-science research. NCOSE describes its overarching aim as exposing connections among different forms of sexual exploitation. Its activities are generally organized around corporate and legislative advocacy, legal advocacy through its law center, and public education. Its best-known recurring initiative is the Dirty Dozen List, which identifies mainstream companies, institutions, technologies, and cultural organizations that NCOSE says facilitate or normalize sexual exploitation. NCOSE has campaigned against pornography websites, payment processors, technology companies, school databases, libraries, retailers, and entertainment businesses. It supported the 2018 FOSTA-SESTA legislation and the proposed EARN IT Act, and it has sought stronger intermediary responsibility for online services. In 2017 it criticized EBSCO databases over the discoverability of sexual content and placed EBSCO and the American Library Association on its Dirty Dozen List. In 2020 it coordinated international advocacy aimed at payment companies over Pornhub, a campaign that preceded Visa and Mastercard announcements that they would stop processing payments for the site. NCOSE has also criticized Parler, Google, Amazon, and Facebook over alleged failures to address exploitation, sexual violence, or harmful content. The organization’s claims and methods remain contested. Critics, including civil-liberties advocates, sex-work researchers, and some sexuality scholars, have argued that NCOSE conflates pornography, consensual adult sexuality, sex work, and trafficking, and that some of its research or public-health claims are misleading or insufficiently supported. NCOSE has described pornography as a public-health crisis and helped develop language used in Utah’s 2016 pornography-resolution campaign; comparable resolutions were later adopted in other states. Global health agencies have not endorsed the organization’s broader claims about pornography. NCOSE has also faced criticism over its historical and continuing relationships with conservative and anti-LGBT organizations. In December 2023, then-chief executive Dawn Hawkins issued an apology for harm previously caused to the LGBTQ community. The organization remains active as an advocacy and campaigning body, with Marcel Van der Watt identified in the supplied reference material as its current president.
History
Operation Yorkville was established in 1962 by three New York City clergymen from different religious traditions who objected to sexually explicit magazines and pornography. Father Morton A. Hill of St. Ignatius Loyola Catholic Church became the organization’s public representative. Its early messaging connected sexual material with a wide range of alleged social harms, often without evidentiary support. Although the organization emphasized children’s protection, critics argued that child protection was sometimes used to justify much broader restrictions on adult expression. The group’s first major legal campaign concerned John Cleland’s erotic novel Fanny Hill. Beginning in 1963, it supported efforts to suppress the book; the dispute ultimately reached the Supreme Court in Memoirs v. Massachusetts in 1966. Operation Yorkville changed its name to Morality in Media in 1968. Hill later served on President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Commission on Obscenity and Pornography. The commission recommended repealing laws directed at adult obscenity, but Hill and other dissenters rejected the report. After the Supreme Court’s 1973 obscenity decisions, MIM continued to advocate enforcement and expanded its involvement in broadcast and film controversies. In 1973, a complaint associated with the organization about George Carlin’s “Seven Dirty Words” routine contributed to the litigation that produced FCC v. Pacifica Foundation in 1978. MIM also challenged the New York premiere of Caligula, condemned Monty Python’s Life of Brian, and sought federal action against pornography during a 1983 White House meeting under President Ronald Reagan. Through the 1990s, it targeted public arts grants, adult retailers, sexually explicit commercial products, and media companies. It organized a boycott of Time Warner over Madonna’s book Sex and joined religious campaigns against Disney after the company extended benefits to same-sex partners of employees. MIM supported the Communications Decency Act of 1996. When the Supreme Court invalidated the law’s principal anti-indecency provisions in Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union, the organization shifted toward internet filtering and content controls. It opposed comprehensive sex education and criticized safer-sex instruction. It also participated in conservative campaigns against same-sex marriage and LGBT-related legal protections. By the late 2000s and early 2010s, the organization acknowledged that traditional anti-obscenity politics had lost influence. President Bob Peters described the broader campaign as having effectively been lost. The organization’s most important strategic transformation came in 2015, when Morality in Media became the National Center on Sexual Exploitation. The rebrand replaced explicitly moral language with terms such as exploitation, trafficking, trauma, public health, and victim protection. Patrick A. Trueman, a lawyer and former federal obscenity prosecutor, was the organization’s president and chief executive at the time. The new organization sought to broaden its audience and connect anti-pornography advocacy to online platform governance, corporate responsibility, public-health claims, and social-science research. NCOSE’s principal continuing campaign is the Dirty Dozen List, which names companies and institutions that the organization believes enable or normalize sexual exploitation. Its targets have included Walmart, Cosmopolitan, EBSCO, Amazon, the American Library Association, Pornhub, payment networks, social-media platforms, and major technology companies. NCOSE supported FOSTA-SESTA in 2018 and backed the EARN IT Act in 2020. It also opposed the decriminalization of sex work and criticized Amnesty International’s support for decriminalization, arguing that such policies would encourage trafficking. The group’s public-health framing has generated substantial controversy. NCOSE helped develop language for a Utah resolution describing pornography as a public-health hazard, and similar resolutions subsequently appeared in numerous states. Critics have said that major health authorities do not support the sweeping conclusions presented in those resolutions and that some NCOSE research materials overstate or selectively interpret scientific findings. Civil-liberties and sex-work organizations have further argued that the group’s campaigns can suppress lawful sexual expression and conflate consensual adult activity with coercion and trafficking. NCOSE has also attracted criticism over its historical ties to conservative, anti-gay, and religious-right organizations. In December 2023, Dawn Hawkins apologized for past harm to the LGBTQ community. In September 2025, board chair Ron DeHaas resigned after his stepson faced felony charges involving child sexual abuse and computer use; DeHaas had helped with bail and was known as the founder of Covenant Eyes, a company selling online accountability and monitoring software. The supplied reference identifies Marcel Van der Watt as NCOSE’s current president. The organization continues to operate through advocacy, litigation support, public education, corporate campaigns, and legislative lobbying.
- 2025
Board chair resigns after family criminal charges
[1]Ron DeHaas resigned as board chair after his stepson was charged in a child-sexual-abuse case.
- 2023
LGBTQ apology
[1]Dawn Hawkins apologized for past harm to the LGBTQ community.
- 2020
Supports the EARN IT Act
[1]The organization joined a large coalition supporting the proposed EARN IT Act.
- 2018
Supports FOSTA-SESTA
[1]NCOSE supported legislation expanding liability for online services associated with sex trafficking.
- 2017
EBSCO placed on the Dirty Dozen List
[1]NCOSE criticized EBSCO school databases over access to sexual material and also targeted the American Library Association and Amazon.
- 2015
Rebranded as NCOSE
[1]Morality in Media became the National Center on Sexual Exploitation and adopted a broader exploitation-centered public identity.
- 1996
Supports the Communications Decency Act
[1]Morality in Media supported federal restrictions on sexually explicit material online, although key provisions were later struck down.
- 1978
FCC v. Pacifica Foundation
[1]A complaint involving George Carlin’s broadcast routine contributed to the legal controversy resolved in FCC v. Pacifica Foundation.
- 1968
Renamed Morality in Media
[1]Operation Yorkville adopted the Morality in Media name.
- 1966
Memoirs v. Massachusetts
[1]The organization’s campaign against Fanny Hill culminated in the Supreme Court’s ruling in Memoirs v. Massachusetts.
Products and positioning
A conservative anti-pornography and anti-sexual-exploitation advocacy organization that frames restrictions on sexual content and stronger platform accountability as measures to protect children, victims, and public health.
Advocacy campaign · 2013
Dirty Dozen List
NCOSE’s recurring public campaign identifies mainstream companies, institutions, technologies, and cultural organizations that it says facilitate sexual exploitation or normalize sexually explicit material. The list is designed to mobilize consumers, legislators, schools, investors, and corporate decision-makers against named targets.
Legal advocacy
NCOSE Law Center
The organization’s legal-advocacy function supports litigation, legal analysis, and policy campaigns concerning obscenity, trafficking, online platforms, pornography, and sexual exploitation.
Research and education
Public-health and exploitation advocacy materials
NCOSE publishes educational and policy material presenting pornography and related commercial or digital practices as contributors to exploitation and public-health harms. Researchers and civil-liberties advocates dispute some of the organization’s interpretations and conclusions.
Controversies
2025
Board chair resignation after stepson’s criminal charges
Board chair Ron DeHaas resigned after his stepson was charged with felony child sexual abuse and a computer-related crime. DeHaas had helped with bail and founded Covenant Eyes, a company associated with monitoring online access to sexual material.
2023
Criticism over anti-LGBTQ history and apology
NCOSE has been criticized for historical and continuing ties to conservative and anti-gay organizations. In December 2023, Dawn Hawkins apologized for past harm caused to the LGBTQ community.
Marketing campaigns
- 2021Big Tech accountability campaign
United States
NCOSE criticized Parler after the Capitol attack and called for congressional regulation of large technology companies, citing failures to control violence, sexual exploitation, and harmful content.
Outcome. The campaign contributed to broader public and legislative debate but did not produce a single organization-specific policy outcome.
- 2020Pornhub payment-network campaign
International
NCOSE coordinated advocacy with NGOs in multiple countries seeking to pressure payment processors over allegations concerning abuse and criminal material on pornography websites, particularly Pornhub.
Outcome. Visa and Mastercard announced in December 2020 that they would stop working with Pornhub.
- 2020EARN IT Act campaign
United States
NCOSE joined more than 70 organizations supporting the EARN IT Act as a way to increase technology-company accountability for online child sexual exploitation.
Outcome. The proposal became part of continuing congressional debate over intermediary liability and online encryption.
- 2018FOSTA-SESTA advocacy
United States
NCOSE was a principal supporter of legislation increasing potential liability for online services that knowingly facilitate sex trafficking.
Outcome. The legislation was enacted in 2018; critics argued that it also harmed consensual sex workers and reduced online speech and safety resources.
- 2017EBSCO and library-content campaign
United States
NCOSE objected to sexual search terms and linked content available through EBSCO databases used by schools, and placed EBSCO, the American Library Association, and Amazon on its Dirty Dozen List.
Outcome. EBSCO said it took the concerns seriously but reported no known cases of students using its databases to access pornography; library advocates characterized the campaign as censorship pressure.
- 2016Opposition to sex-work decriminalization
United States · International policy debate
NCOSE criticized Amnesty International’s support for decriminalizing sex work and opposed legalized prostitution in Nevada, arguing that decriminalization could increase trafficking.
Outcome. The policy dispute continued without the organization achieving a general reversal of international decriminalization advocacy.
- 2015Walmart and Cosmopolitan campaign
United States
NCOSE pressured Walmart to remove Cosmopolitan magazine from checkout areas, treating the publication as a mainstream facilitator of sexual exploitation.
Outcome. Walmart removed the magazine from checkout aisles.
Brand decisions
2020
Pressure on Pornhub’s payment accessOtherBackground
NCOSE and allied groups argued that payment companies should respond to allegations of abuse and criminal content connected to pornography platforms.
Action taken
NCOSE led public advocacy directed at payment processors and other commercial intermediaries.
Aftermath
Visa and Mastercard announced that they would stop working with Pornhub in December 2020.
2018
Support for FOSTA-SESTAStrategyBackground
NCOSE sought greater responsibility for online services whose systems could be used to facilitate sex trafficking.
Action taken
The organization supported the federal legislation that amended online intermediary-liability rules.
Aftermath
The law was enacted, while civil-liberties groups and sex-worker advocates warned of collateral effects on consensual activity, speech, and safety.
2015
Shift from morality branding to exploitation brandingStrategyBackground
Traditional anti-obscenity advocacy had lost influence, while concerns about trafficking, online platforms, and sexual harm offered a broader policy framework.
Action taken
Morality in Media changed its name to the National Center on Sexual Exploitation and adopted public-health and exploitation terminology.
Aftermath
The organization expanded campaigns involving technology companies, payment processors, legislators, schools, and corporate brands, while critics argued that the new language repackaged older censorship and purity-based positions.
Recent events
- 2023
Dawn Hawkins apologizes for past harm to the LGBTQ community[1]
Leadership change · Other
Then-chief executive Dawn Hawkins issued a public statement apologizing for harm caused to LGBTQ people by past positions or advocacy associated with the organization.
- 2021
NCOSE criticizes Parler and major technology companies[1]
Campaign · Regulation
The organization criticized Parler after the January 6 Capitol attack and called for stronger oversight of Google, Amazon, Facebook, and other large technology companies.
- 2020
NCOSE campaigns against Pornhub and payment processors[1]
Campaign · Other
NCOSE coordinated advocacy with other organizations seeking to persuade payment companies to stop servicing pornography platforms over allegations involving abuse and criminal content.
- 2020
Visa and Mastercard end payment support for Pornhub[1]
Other · Regulation
Following public pressure and reporting about allegations concerning Pornhub, Visa and Mastercard announced that they would stop working with the site.
- 2020
NCOSE supports the EARN IT Act[1]
Campaign · Regulation
NCOSE joined more than 70 organizations supporting the proposed EARN IT Act and described it as a significant step toward holding technology services accountable for online exploitation.
- 2015
NCOSE rebrands from Morality in Media[1]
Other
Morality in Media adopted the National Center on Sexual Exploitation name, presenting a broader focus on exploitation, trafficking, technology, and alleged social and health harms associated with pornography.
Sources2 sources
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