There was a media dust-up in June when former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani challenged the reliability of assertions made by Stormy Daniels because of her willing involvement in the pornography industry. Giuliani was attacked by a flurry of media pundits who were quick to extol the benefits, even — ironically — the virtues of choosing pornography or prostitution as credible professions.

I’m sorry to be so blunt, but, really, have we lost our minds?

Perhaps not quite yet, but the case could certainly be made that far too many have lost their moral compass in our very confused and troubled world.

With that said, my interest is not in siding with Giuliani or Daniels. The entire give-and-take between them and the weighing in by myriad political pundits was, to my mind, additional evidence of the continued degradation of morality and civil discourse in this country.

However, having a level of expertise on human trafficking, and the relationship between prostitution and pornography, I want to clarify one consistently false claim made during this distasteful brouhaha. It is the lie, blatantly trumpeted by the media, especially since the 1990 film "Pretty Woman," and the pretension that prostitution, the individuals involved and conditions in the sex trade are “oh, so wonderful.”

It stems from the false premise that most prostitutes choose to involve themselves in the trade. The reality is that overwhelmingly individuals are enslaved in prostitution and sexually exploited on a daily basis. Equality Now, a leading organization working to eradicate sexploitation, and other global reports provide chilling statistics that clearly debunk this flagrant lie:

• Trafficking women and children for sexual exploitation is the fastest growing criminal enterprise in the world, according to reports from the International Labor Organization as well as the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Global Report on Trafficking in Persons. This, despite the fact international law and the laws of 158 countries criminalize most forms of trafficking.

• At least 20.9 million adults and children are bought and sold worldwide into commercial sexual servitude, forced labor and bonded labor, according to the International Labour Organization numbers.

• Fifty-four percent of trafficking victims are trafficked for sexual exploitation, UNODC reports.

• About 2 million children are exploited every year in the global commercial sex trade, according to UNICEF studies.

• Women and girls make up 96 percent of victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation.

• Sex trafficking is a human rights violation that flouts basic human rights, including … freedom from violence and torture. Survivors of sex trafficking tell stories of daily degradation of mind and body. They are often isolated, intimidated, sold into debt bondage and subject to physical and sexual assault by their traffickers. Most live under constant mental and physical threat. Many suffer severe emotional trauma, including symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and dissociation. They are at greater risk of contracting sexually transmissible infections, including HIV/AIDS. Many become pregnant and are forced to undergo often unsafe abortions. (See treaties such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women).

These facts are the tip of the iceberg on the horrors inflicted upon the vast majority of those involved in prostitution and the pornography industry.

More importantly, there is unambiguous moral clarity provided by our loving Heavenly Father and his son, Jesus Christ, on such practices. Regarding the two greatest commandments, which encompass all the others, Jesus taught, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matthew 22:37–40).

While the first four of the Ten Commandments address each person’s relationship with God and fellow human beings, the remaining six expand on how we are to “treat others, both those in (our) family and other people. God wants us to value the people around us and avoid any actions or thoughts that might damage our relationships with them” (see "Ten Commandments" on mormon.org). The seventh commandment specifically enjoins men and women, “Thou shalt not commit adultery” (Exodus 20:14). Doctrine and Covenants 59:6 additionally clarifies, “Thou shalt not … commit adultery … nor do anything like unto it.” The Savior elaborated on his command, “… whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart” (see Matthew 5:27–28). When a person, acting freely, chooses to engage in sexual relations outside God’s law on marriage, it is sinful behavior in need of repentance and reform.

Diety has also made clear their repugnance for human trafficking. One definition of “traffic” in the Oxford English Dictionary is, “The action of dealing or trading in something illegal." In older usage, traffic is defined as “hav(ing) dealings of an illicit or secret character; to deal, intrigue, conspire.”

This adds meaning and clarity when we read in the Book of Mormon, “The robbers of Gadianton did spread over all the face of the land; and there were none that were righteous save it were the disciples of Jesus. And gold and silver did they lay up in store in abundance, and (they) did traffic in all manner of traffic” (4 Nephi 1:46, emphasis added).

The great Book of Mormon prophet Jacob made clear the Lord’s dissatisfaction with not only “pride” but with men’s “grosser crimes,” in “seek(ing) to excuse themselves in committing whoredoms.” Men were using their power and wealth to coerce others to provide them sexual favors. Categorically denouncing such behavior, the Lord instead commanded they use their riches “for the intent to do good — to clothe the naked, and to feed the hungry, and to liberate the captive and administer relief to the sick and the afflicted” (see Jacob 2). Man’s duty before God is not to oppress and abuse women and children but to provide for and protect them.

Anyone who believes most prostitutes willingly choose the profession is woefully mistaken. Anyone who advances the idea that willful engagement in prostitution or the pornography industry is morally acceptable is either sadly misguided or morally bankrupt. Prostitution and pornography are demeaning and degrading. They are physically and mentally destructive for both parties involved. They devalue fellow human beings. They damage human relationships and, like a cancer, ultimately destroy societies that strive to be respectful, compassionate and kind.

Correction: A previous version incorrectly referred to the first two of the Ten Commandments instead of the two great commandments in the New Testament.