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Rita Kuntz is a resident of Cape Girardeau. She is a wife, mother and board member of the American Family Association.

There is currently more talk on sexual harassment than there has ever been. More and more women are saying they have been sexually harassed. I'd like to raise an issue that perhaps many people have not connected with sexual harassment. That is the issue of pornography.

Pornography Awareness Week is October 27 through November 2. Our society has a long way to go in being aware of the damage pornography is doing to our society. It is not just an innocent act that doesn't hurt anyone.

How can it be tied to sexual harassment? Pornography is one of the biggest exploiters of women and children. I am greatly puzzled at the feminists not being up in arms about pornography. When men get their kicks out of looking at "dirty magazines, books and videos," it tears down respect for women. That disrespect carries over into their families, friends and co-workers.

Sexual harassment is not the only thing pornography leads to. It is also being linked more and more to rape, incest, child-molestation and murder.

Cities such as Oklahoma City have been cleaned up of adult bookstores and pornography and have seen drastic drops in cases of rape. Several mass murderers have been big users of pornography. Convicted killer Ted Bundy, just before he was executed, admitted that he was addicted to pornography.

Pornography is addictive. Many men start out with what is called "soft porn" and when they find that it does not satisfy their lusts anymore, they move to something more graphic, working their way to child pornography, sadomasochism, bestiality.

Our nation was appalled as Anita Hill described her sexual harassment accusations against Clarence Thomas on TV. But that and so much worse are prevalent in pornographic magazines, books and videos.

Playboy, Penthouse, and Hustler are not just "girlee" magazines anymore. They contain pictures and cartoons that have to do with rape, incest and bestiality. They are truly pornographic.

Many people think pornography is protected by the first amendment. It is not! They say that adults should be able to look at what they want. But 75 percent of the pornographic magazines end up in the hands of children.

Some may say that pornography isn't a problem here in Cape, but it is. People would be surprised at how many stores carry pornographic magazines, books and videos.

How many rapes, how many children destroyed by incest and molestation, how many lives destroyed will it take before people will take a stand against pornography?