Ok. I’m definitely getting into uncharted territory here, but I’m pretty fascinated by the sex workers’ rights movement(s). I’m learning little by little – and as a non-sex worker I feel a little shitty like there is an element of voyeurism involved. But we all get tapped into things for different reasons and it’s not so far-fetched given my real life job. Which is about sexual health.
Anyway. I went to a hearing this week about condom use in the adult film industry. I don’t know why but a small part of me was kind of ambivalent before the hearing – even seeing the arguments on paper and knowing about HIV and STD outbreaks, I still sort of feel uncomfortable legislating sexuality. I had this idea that it’s going to happen anyway, so harm reduction through testing is one option.
Obviously I’m dumb.
Sex work is a job! And employees should have the rights that all other employees have – so hells yeah mandate condoms. If your dentist has to wear gloves, and construction workers wear helmets, why wouldn’t porn actors wear condoms?
I’m on board. Many of us love our jobs and many more of us hate our jobs. I’m going to venture to say that sex work is no different and mandating condom use would take the pressure off those performers who would LIKE to choose to use a condom but are pressured not to use it.
This was also timely because a gal there (a performer) used Nevada brothels as a positive example of legalized and regulated sex work. She seemed really pro-brothel from the snippet I heard from her.
In a strange twist of fate I have been following two blogs from women who have tried to work the brothels and were less than pleased. There’s Mariko’s blog here, which I think may have some posts removed that detail out some of her experiences. There is also After Hours. Bound Not Gagged is kind of the go-to place for many sex worker rights issues and discussions.
Basically the brothel system has problems too and it seems like an incredibly hard balance to figure out what is a “best practice” in a legal system. The fact is that many places of business suck and don’t meet OSHA standards, but often our lives aren’t completely impacted. Yes, the book shelf next to me may break my leg in an earthquake, but the imminent danger is not on par with contracting Chlamydia 5 times in a year. Ya know?
So that’s a blurb about sex work from a gal who doesn’t know a whole lot. Seriously read those other blogs though because they are good. And also, I didn’t even get into the international stuff. Sheesh.
If your dentist has to wear gloves, and construction workers wear helmets, why wouldn’t porn actors wear condoms?
The difference, though, is that your dentist treats and interacts with an open set of people – anyone can come in and the dentist will stick their hands in your mouths. IN a porn setting, the “average” person isn’t going to walk in off the street and participate – it is a closed environment, with everyone constantly being tested and shut downs occurring when a positive result occurs.
I think it ought to be up to the actors involved whether or not to use condoms – not a bunch of old people legislating their use from afar.
I’m so glad you commented, thank you. This is a much better discussion with more perspectives.
I get the sense that the option to wear a condom is not really a viable one and that may jeopardize a person’s ability to work?
Plus, there are many closed environments where workers rights are protected. Labs, construction sites, stunt people (as mentioned at the hearing). Performers are “average” people with jobs, and like many of use average people with jobs there are OSHA workplace standards to protect them from getting sick or hurt.
Screening doesn’t seem to be cutting it. From what I gather, testing happens monthly but that leaves plenty of time to transmit, infect and miss new infections during testing. From what I heard at the hearing, during the last HIV outbreak the major transmission occurred 3 days after getting a negative test result.
I think you hit on an important point though that much of this work has to come from the workers and not from outsiders (although I think old people legislating can be useful allies). I can have my opinion, I can be any ally, but fundamentally this is not my day-to-day experience.
(Side note – in some construction sites, despite legal protections, many folks don’t wear the proper safety gear, and those that do wear safety gear can be looked down upon.)
I’m glad to comment on your post – it is a very important topic to me as well.
I get the sense that the option to wear a condom is not really a viable one and that may jeopardize a person’s ability to work?
You’d be right. An actress that required a condom for every scene wouldn’t get much work.
Screening doesn’t seem to be cutting it. From what I gather, testing happens monthly but that leaves plenty of time to transmit, infect and miss new infections during testing. From what I heard at the hearing, during the last HIV outbreak the major transmission occurred 3 days after getting a negative test result.
Actually, it does quite well. STI outbreaks among porn stars is far, far lower than among the “civilian” population. You rarely hear about them because they rarely occur. The same is true for brothel sex workers, by the way (though condoms are required there).
Given that, it makes little sense for OSHA to require condom use.
Many of the closed environments you referred to wouldn’t protect workers if they weren’t required to. The porn industry self-regulates because the potential infection would destroy the industry. They do quite well with self regulation.
Hi Alexa,
I disagree that the current testing is effective. Two major HIV outbreaks in the past 10 years is pretty severe failure in my opinion.
There are all the STIs that don’t have standard test (HPV, herpes, trich) that could have SOME benefit from condom use. Just in general, testing shows a person when they have something. It seems categorically unsafe to just catch something after it’s been transmitted particularly when it could be prevented in the first place.
Prevalence of STIs in adult film industry is estimated to be higher than the rest of the local population (per LA County public health people). Given the quick turnover of actors (female in particular), it’s safe to say that prevalence is underestimated since folks may be in just a couple of films and then move on.
I guess fundamentally I think you (in the general sense, not you specifically) can’t have it both ways. Workers rights always come with strings attached and rules to follow – the hope is that those rules and strings are outweighed by the benefit of legitimacy and legal protection.
I feel like the performers are the ones getting screwed here because they are getting the infections without a lot of choice around condom use, but the producers get the bulk of the money without the risk (unless they are having sex with the performers, which is a whole separate post).
I’ve been reading your blog and I’ll think on all this more. You raise a lot of good points about escorts and decriminalization…I’ll definitely keep reading.
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