Yesterday the AIDS Healthcare Foundation held a news conference to demand that the Los Angeles County health department require condom use within the L.A. porn industry. This meeting comes in light of last week's news release that a female porn actress tested positive for HIV. According to the Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation, the actress was tested for HIV June 4th and worked June 5th. She was found positive for HIV June 6th.
The AIDS Healthcare Foundation put out a statement saying that,
"L.A. County Public Health officials have been asleep at the switch with regard to monitoring HIV and STD prevention and testing in the region's porn industry," Michael Weinstein, president of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation said, "Under the auspices of California Code that is enacted into law and already on the books, we are calling on country health officials to immediately instutute a requirement for condom usage in the production of adult films -- something already far more widespread voluntarily in adult gay films. If not, county health officials should shut down production sets that refuse to comply with the California code."
It is reported that this is the first real HIV outbreak since 2004. A then 18 year old porn actress "Laura Roxx" contracted HIV through unprotected anal sex with two men during a film shoot. She had only been in the industry three months.
Adult film actors who decide not to use protection are obviously at high risk for STDs. When they catch a disease they certainly aren't blameless. However, as "independent contractors", porn actors are not provided with workplace safety protections. How sick is this?
As a anti-porn feminist I can think of many harms brought forth by the porn industry. One being that, when men and women climax to the image of porn actors it is impossible to know what harm is occuring within the lives of those involved. Those who masturbate to pornography do not see the person behind the image. The image of someone who more than likely has been brutalized within the porn industry, more than likely has contracted various STDs, and is paying the consequeces of poor choices.
Although, I am not an advocate of the porn industry, I believe that its actors must take responsibility to protect themselves. I believe government agencies, porn producers, directors and others behind the scenes must encourage protection for the ones that are making them so much money. They are indeed valuable human beings even though their jobs do not display them as such.
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