Ashton Kutcher is one of those actors who seems to constantly be in the news, but it never seems to be for his acting. In all honesty, I can't really remember too many notable things he has actually starred in other than Dude Where's My Car? and Punk'd. However, while the 39-year-old seems to have faded from the eye of the camera lens, he seems to be keeping himself pretty busy.
The former How I Met Your Mother actor co-founded the nonprofit project Thorn: Digital Defenders of Children in 2009 with his ex-wife and actress
Demi Moore. The aim of the project was to use technology to eradicate child abuse and aid the police in identifying those abusers.
Since its foundation 8 years ago, Kutcher reckons the project has helped save 6,000 child abuse victims. According to INC, Kutcher spoke at the Dreamforce Software conference:
"It is not the force for good or the force for evil. That’s you. You are the force for good or the force for evil. There are millions of images that are transferred daily of child abuse material.
"We’ve identified 6,000 children that are being abused. We’ve identified 12,000 adults that are also being abused, and 6,000 abusers.
"The only question we have to ask ourselves is, ‘How good are we?’
"I’ve articulated my purpose. The question is, what is yours?"
During his speech, Kutcher also went on to explain how his project researches and funds the tools that help law enforcement and other non profit organisations battle the issue.
One example of this help was in 2013, when Thorn partnered with the Salesforce Foundation and Twilio to create a text messaging service that could be used by The National Human Trafficking Hotline. A key part of Kutcher's project is that they help both children and adults who have been victims of abuse.
Earlier this year, Kutcher delivered an emotional speech to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, in which he said: "As part of my anti-trafficking work, I’ve met victims in Russia, I’ve met victims in India, I’ve met victims that have been trafficked from Mexico, victims from New York and New Jersey and all across our country."
"I’ve been on FBI raids where I’ve seen things that no person should ever see. I’ve seen video content of a child that’s the same age as mine being raped by an American man that was a sex tourist in Cambodia.
"And this child was so conditioned by her environment that she thought she was engaging in play. She’d been abused for three years and they’d watched her for three years and they could not find the perpetrator, asking us for help.
"We were the last line of defence. An actor and his foundation were the potential last line of defence.
"That’s my day job and I’m sticking to it."
It appears that despite the fact that his acting work seems to have slowed down a bit, Kutcher is using his position to do some good in the world and that should be applauded.
