LOS ANGELES — Two of the industry’s most vital nonprofit services, performer mental health resource Pineapple Support and the Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection (ASACP), have pledged to advance each other's missions wherever possible, through the exchange of resources, contacts and other actions to further each group’s success.
“After meeting with Tim Henning of ASACP in Phoenix, we spoke about the various ways that the two organizations could support each others goals,” said Leya Tanit, founder of Pineapple Support. “We are both strongly aware of the interconnected nature of abuse, exploitation and mental illness and are now working to find ways to amplify each others voice and reach.”
Tanit launched Pineapple Support in response to a string of losses in the adult industry from depression and other mental illness. In its first year, Pineapple Support connected more than 100 adult performers to mental health services including free and low-cost professional therapy, counseling and emotional support by sex-positive, sex-worker friendly therapists.
Pineapple Support provides 24/7 free anonymous online emotional support through its online chat platform manned by trained volunteer listeners. In addition to offering direct services, Pineapple Support aspires to end the stigma associated with mental health and sex work on a larger more societal level.
Formed in 1996 as a way to protect children from adult content and to fight and report online child exploitation, ASACP has earned an enviable level of respect from the adult industry’s leading companies, with its CP Tipline processing more than 1 million reports since its inception, while its globally lauded Restricted To Adults (RTA) meta labeling system protects billions of webpages from access by minors.
“As the leading organization protecting against the exploitation of children, we are happy to have a partner like Pineapple Support,” said ASACP Executive Director Tim Henning. “Child exploitation has a lasting legacy that can lead to a lifetime of shame for its victims — shame that can grow into profound mental challenges that need compassion and understanding to address.”
To learn more about ASACP, click here or email tim@asacp.org.
To learn more about Pineapple Support, click here or email contact@pineapplesupport.org.
