by Melissa Farley, Erica Bergkvist, Merly Asbogard, Johanna Pethrus, Mikaela Lannergren, Luba Fein, Nacima B. Jerari
The following excerpts come from this research on prostitution and filmed prostitution (porn), released in Stockholm on October 17, 2023:
We describe the parallels between prostitution, pornography production, and trafficking with respect to methods of recruitment, racism, economic inequality, sex inequality, specific harms perpetrated by pimps and by sex buyers, coercion, and childhood antecedents that increased vulnerability.
In our interviewees’ lives, there was no clear differentiation between online advertising for pornography and advertising for prostitution, or between online trafficking and online pornography, or between the online and offline sex trade. (Emphasis supplied)
Coercion
Three quarters of our interviewees had been coerced to perform what a pornography sex buyer saw.
During their prostitution, 64% had been filmed or photographed without their consent.
During pornography production, 71% were coerced into performing sex acts they did not want to perform.
[Rape and condom-refusal]
84% of our interviewees had been raped while in the sex trade.
Rapists included sex buyers, boyfriends, pimps, pornography fans, pornography producers, pornography actors, and pornography directors.
27% had been prevented from using a condom during the production of pornography, an act that is considered a life-threatening assault by some courts.
What methods were used to process payment for pornography?
Swish, bank-to-bank transfers, PayPal, Mastercard, and Visa.
What banks transferred payments from for sex acts in pornography and prostitution?
Swedbank, Nordea, Handelsbanken and Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken (SEB) – the four largest banks in Sweden – were entangled and implicated in the transfer of money from pornography and prostitution exploiters to the people whom they exploited.
Does torture take place in the production of pornography?
Yes. Sex acts described in the report that are perpetrated against women in prostitution and filmed as pornography are the same as the acts that legally define torture: verbal sexual harassment, unwanted sex acts, forced nudity, rape, sexual mocking, physical sexual harassment, and not permitting basic hygiene.
[Porn fans?]
54% of our interviewees had been threatened via text and 39% had been doxed (personal information was released to family or employers).
What services did interviewees need?
Our interviewees who were involved in pornography and other prostitution told us they needed individual counseling, peer support, medical care, self-defense training, a home or safe place, legal help, and job training.
[Sample of participants’ own words]
“The same person who sold me – he was also there to film me. So he was both a pimp and a porn producer, he was a sort of jack-of-all-trades”
“Pornography can haunt you for years. Films can be made public and destroy everything – relationships and jobs.”
“When it comes to porn, a lot of people think that there will be a studio. It could just as well be a filmed abuse. The viewer will never know. The viewer could never know if there is a consent. And, even if there was a consent, the consequences are still there.”
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