Ashton Kutcher’s Senate Testimony About Child Exploitation

Originally published 2018-09-30. Dates, ages and announcements in this article refer to September 2018.

Advocacy and impact evidence

The speech describes an argument for action and the organisation's claimed contribution. Its impact figures need the reporting period and definitions rather than applause as validation.

Ashton Kutcher Makes Powerful Speech On Fighting Child Abuse (Video)

Ashton Kutcher gave testimony featured in this archive post, asking US officials to do more to end child sexual abuse finally.

The actor and tech investor, a father of two kids himself, was visibly tearful when he discussed progress in fighting modern slavery in a speech in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in Washington DC.

As Kutcher revealed, his team received a call from the Department of Homeland Security, a plea for help to find a 7-year-old girl after footage of her being abused was ‘spread around the dark web.’ As he said, the girl had been abused for three years, and they couldn't find the perpetrator.

See the full video below:

The organization’s website was linked here: https://www.wearethorn.org/

A compelling account still needs defined measures

A speech can explain why work matters while leaving its impact figures open to verification. Identifying victims, reviewing material and resolving cases are different outcomes. The event date also matters: a post published later should not describe the testimony as newly delivered simply because it is being shared again.

Kutcher left Thorn’s board in 2023

Kutcher co-founded Thorn in 2009 with Demi Moore. On September 14, 2023 he resigned as chairman of its board after it emerged that he and Mila Kunis had written letters seeking leniency for their former co-star Danny Masterson, who was sentenced to 30 years to life for raping two women. In his resignation letter Kutcher said he could not allow his “error in judgment” to distract from the organisation’s work and the children it serves. The testimony above belongs to his earlier role as the organisation’s public advocate.

Sources: Associated Press via KTTC: Ashton Kutcher resigns as chair of anti-sex abuse organization (September 16, 2023)