When news of a recent rape in Steubenville, Ohio came out into the public, it really hit home with ex-porn star Traci Lords. Not only because she calls the small town home, but because at the age of 10, she was also raped there.

Lords’ stint in the adult industry is infamous. She entered into it at the age of 15 with a fake ID and a gentleman claiming to be her step father. 3 years later, after 21 video shoots and 100+ releases, her real age was released to the FBI. The FBI then pulled all of her underage content of of US shelves, leaving just one film remaining, “Traci, I Love You”, the only film she made legally, which she also just happened to own the exclusive rights to.

Her life was filled with bad expierences. After being raped at age 10, she fled her alcoholic father at age 12, to her mother who had a cocaine dealing boyfriend who molested her.

Lords believes her experience of being raped led her down the path into a downward spiral at such a young age. She’s stated:

“There’s no doubt in my mind that that experience really set the stage for me to go into porn and do all those things. These are not things you start doing because everything is OK.”

Lords has also stated that her mother was raped in the town at a very young age, and they both agree that “women are considered second-class citizens in that part of the world.”

Lords believes it’s time for women to stand up and speak up about cases like this.

“We need to shine the brightest light on this, the daylight is really the best disinfectant.”