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 other’s 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 other’s 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 one hundred adult performers to mental health services including free and low-cost therapy, counseling and emotional support.
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 a 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,” ASACP Executive Director Tim Henning said. “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.”
About Pineapple Support
Pineapple Support was founded in 2018 by Leya Tanit, a British performer in response to the string of tragic losses experienced by the adult industry during the fall/winter of 2017-2018. Support provides 24/7 free anonymous online emotional support through their online chat platform manned by trained volunteer listeners. They also offer free or subsidized professional therapy by sex-positive, sex-worker friendly therapists. 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.
To learn more about Pineapple Support visit Pineapplesupport or email contact@pineapplesupport.org. Follow them on Twitter and Instagram and Facebook.
