Oct 1, 2021

Most Women In Porn Are Trafficked

Makemyburdenlight

We already know research shows that most women in prostitution are trafficked, but how many women in pornography are trafficked? Based on these statistics it looks to be roughly at least 54-68%. Hopefully these statistics can shed more light. Sadly, many women don't know they are trafficked, and some are even groomed and brainwashed into believing they chose it, so it's incredibly hard to find statistics on something you can't always directly ask the victim about. There's no way to know if every woman in porn is consenting or forced to say they consented. Even IF it were something smaller, like say 10% of the women in porn who are trafficked, since the average amount of clicks per person on just a single porn site is 11 clicks, then that would mean every person would be viewing at least 1 woman's rape. That's still way too many. But 54-68%? 😭 WATCHING FUELS THE DEMAND OF THEIR ABUSE. 

First, in order to understand how the statistics apply we must first understand the definition of trafficking and all it entails :

Department of Justice - 

"The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime defines human trafficking as any situation in which “force, coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power or vulnerability, or giving payments or benefits to a person in control” are used to exploit another person. If any of these qualifiers are present, it’s human trafficking."

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United Nations - 

"Trafficking in persons" shall mean the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs;

(b) The consent of a victim of trafficking in persons to the intended exploitation set forth in subparagraph (a) of this article shall be irrelevant where any of the means set forth in subparagraph (a) have been used;

(c) The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of a child for the purpose of exploitation shall be considered "trafficking in persons" even if this does not involve any of the means set forth in subparagraph (a) of this article;

(d) "Child" shall mean any person under eighteen years of age.

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"Sex trafficking is when a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud or coercion OR when the person induced to perform the act is under 18 years old. A commercial sex act means any item of value is traded for any sexual service (prostitution, pornography, or sexual performance)." https://www.ncrct.org/sex-trafficking-resources-2/

"To make and sell pornography is virtually always to exploit the prostitution of another person. Pornographers are almost all third-party sellers of the prostitution of other people; few sell pornography of themselves." ..Palermo Protocol's 2000 

"Trafficking in persons" shall mean the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include... the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation ....

Pornography is clearly covered as sex trafficking under this definition. For pornography, women and children are recruited, transported, provided, and obtained for sex acts on account of which, typically, money is given to pornography pimps and received by lesser pimps. Then, each time the pornography is commercially exchanged, the trafficking continues as the women and children in it are transported and provided for sex, sold, and bought again. Doing all these things for the purpose of exploiting the prostitution of others-which pornography intrinsically does-makes it trafficking in persons."

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://repository.law.umich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi%3Farticle%3D1241%26context%3Dmjil&ved=2ahUKEwi1t_e-mZPyAhWoJjQIHY5xAugQFjAWegQIORAC&usg=AOvVaw2-OEibSQhZ-RCzGQlKilvU


STATISTICS

"Professional porn performers who are tricked, forced, or coerced into performing a sex act on their “no” list, or having sex with a performer on their “no” list are then—by legal definition—victims of sex trafficking. 

The average life expectancy of someone in commercial sexual exploitation is seven years; in other words, a 14-year-old would be dead by age 21.90 The mortality rate is 200 times higher among women being trafficked for sex than a non-exploited person of the same age. Those who were involved in the sex trafficking industry reported the severe violence to which they were subjected. In interviews with over 100 survivors of trafficking, 95.1 percent reported some form of violence or abuse including being forced to have sex, punched, beaten, kicked, threatened with a weapon, strangled, etc.9+ Many of these acts are inspired by violent pornography since 88 percent of scenes in pornographic films contain acts of physical aggression. "  - The Link Between Pornography, Sex Trafficking ... Family Research Council

89% of women in the sex industry said they wanted to escape, but had no other means for survival. - Dept of Justice 

https://2001-2009.state.gov/r/pa/ei/rls/38790.htm

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http://cherishedla.org/faqs


"The results of a Treasures client survey revealed that 75% of women who have worked in porn also report having worked in prostitution and escorting.[57]

According to the same survey, 83% of women who have worked in porn report having also worked in strip clubs."

" 70% of female trafficking victims are traffickedi nto the commercial sex industry, including porn, stripping and legal brothels."

"A Treasures client survey of women who have worked in strip clubs revealed that 65% identified as victims of sexual exploitation. [103]"

"Several of the women who said they were not exploited or “unsure” of whether they were exploited noted that they entered stripping as minors and or had pimps that coerced them into stripping. It is likely that the percentage is actually higher"

"The same survey of women who have worked in strip clubs revealed that 31% identified as victims of sex trafficking. [104]"

"In a content analysis of the 50 top selling porn movies:

88.2% showed physical aggression towards women, primarily spanking, gagging and slapping.

48.7% showed verbal aggression, primarily name calling.

The majority of perpetrators were male with 94.4% of the aggression directed towards women and girls. [52]"

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.marylandchildrensalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/SEXINDUSTRYTREASURES-TRAFFICKINGSTATS_STATISTICSDownload.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjjrdG7hMjyAhU6JzQIHbnnBnUQFnoECCIQAQ&usg=AOvVaw0YvA7uosOxzWM5_Lj5egii

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https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://xyonline.net/sites/xyonline.net/files/2018-04/Bridges%252C%2520Aggression%2520and%2520Sexual%2520Behavior%2520in%2520Best-Selling%2520Pornography%2520Videos%25202010.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjHoN3qvPLyAhXgGjQIHdJ1CIAQFnoECAYQAQ&usg=AOvVaw1KPN8Z06P053HMCa1Laumt


"90% of prostituted women interviewed by WHISPER had pimps while in prostitution (Evelina Giobbe, 1987, WHISPER Oral History Project, Minneapolis, Minnesota).

62% reported having been raped in prostitution. 73% reported having experienced physical assault in prostitution. 72% were currently or formerly homeless. 92% stated that they wanted to escape prostitution immediately. (Melissa Farley, Isin Baral, Merab Kiremire, Ufuk Sezgin, "Prostitution in Five Countries: Violence and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder" http://www.rapeis.org/activism/prostitution/prostitutionfacts.html

"A study [91] revealed that the women working in strip clubs experience the following:

Physical assault (i.e. kicked, bitten, slapped and spit on): 100%

Attempted vaginal penetration with fingers: 61%

Attempted vaginal penetration with objects such as

bottles or cell phones: 33%

Attempted rape: 17%

Verbal threats: 44%"

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3508959/

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https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.marylandchildrensalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/SEXINDUSTRYTREASURES-TRAFFICKINGSTATS_STATISTICSDownload.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwj90fWPt_LyAhU6JTQIHb8LB90QFnoECAYQAQ&usg=AOvVaw0YvA7uosOxzWM5_Lj5egii


85% of aggression was present in pornographic scenes by male directors :

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/230165226_A_Comparison_of_Male_and_Female_Directors_in_Popular_Pornography_What_Happens_when_Women_are_at_the_Helm


"Physical aggression was present in 73 percent of the films, and rape scenes were present in 51 percent, with the woman as the victim every time." - Marripedia quoting this study: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/229491094_Dominance_and_Inequality_in_X-Rated_Videocassettes

Strip clubs:

" The most prevalent form of violence reported by participants while at work was sexual assault, with

84% (n=27) reporting they had experienced unwanted groping, rape, forced or coerced unwanted sexual acts. The next most common forms of abuse reported by participants while at work included verbal abuse 63% (n=20) meaning any name calling, threats, criticizing or aggressive outbursts, harassment 59% (n=19) including stalking, intimidation, and racial discrimination, and physical assault 53% (n=17) involving hitting, slapping, witnessing a homicide, and being hit by objects. The most infrequent form of violence reported at work by participants was financial abuse with only 34% (n=11) reporting they had experienced someone else having control of their money or belongings and using it against them. One participant reported experiencing “other” form of violence, which they identified as “grooming”. This response was followed up in an interview that will be discussed further."

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/335005848_Exotic_Dancers_Experiences_with_Occupational_Violence_in_Portland_Oregon_Strip_Clubs


Other interesting studies:

Thoroughly disputing the Fisher & Grenier study which claimed pornography didn't lead to aggression, and why pornography does in fact lead to aggression and sexist attitudes towards women :

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/comm/malamuth/pdf/00arsr11.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjP3qiY9pPyAhXCHjQIHekMAawQFjAbegUIkwEQAg&usg=AOvVaw2nYfnAy-SPmQtv3v9lzp-x


".. Just as throwing money at victims of sexual abuse does not make it a job, taking pictures of it does not make it freely chosen or desired.' It makes it pictures of paid rape-rape in the real, if regrettably seldom in the legal, sense.

.. the distinction between forced prostitution and "voluntary" prostitution2' has similar dimensions of unreality. The point of the distinction is to hive off a narrow definition of force in order to define as voluntary the conditions of sex inequality, abuse, and destitution that put most women in the sex industry and keeps them there. By the same token, to analyze so-called voluntary prostitution as "work" and trafficing/forced prostitution as "crime'' is, among other things, to decide that there is a class of women to whom human rights laws against sexual harassment at work-and other laws inconsistent with the realities of force inherent in being prostituted -will not apply. If this is work, what can it mean to prohibit sexual harassment at work when the sexual harassment is the work? This is a form of sex/violence distinction, two things that this industry of sexual violation makes into one thing."

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://repository.law.umich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi%3Farticle%3D1241%26context%3Dmjil&ved=2ahUKEwi1t_e-mZPyAhWoJjQIHY5xAugQFjAWegQIORAC&usg=AOvVaw2-OEibSQhZ-RCzGQlKilvU


" 70% of underage trafficking victims say pornography was made of them, and 63% of underage sex trafficking victims are advertised or sold online.." 

https://www.catalystministries.net/blog/2017/11/27/an-inseparable-tie-pornography-and-sex-trafficking

Legal reasons why pornography can be tried as trafficking :

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi%3Farticle%3D1244%26context%3Dnulr_online&ved=2ahUKEwi1t_e-mZPyAhWoJjQIHY5xAugQFjAQegUIkAEQAg&usg=AOvVaw0sSO5BGHk2XVupoxcErF3B