Ex-Porn Stars Exposing the Truth About the Harms of the Industry
NOTE: For more than 15 VIDEOS on this topic please scroll down. Thank you.
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On this page are videos, testimony, and quotes of former pornography performers such as Traci Lords and Shelley Lubben speaking out about the various harms of pornography such as sexually transmitted diseases, mental illness, sexual abuse and trauma, drug abuse, etc.
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Traci Lords On the Oprah Show:
"At the age of 15, Traci Lords became one of the most famous adult film stars. By the age of 18, she had made 19 adult sex films.
Traci's career in the sex industry began when she ran away from home at age 15. She obtained a fake I.D. "mainly to get a job…as a waitress, just some sort of employment," Traci says. "I was really desperate."
When she answered an ad for a figure model in a local newspaper, she was quickly swept up into the porn industry. Nude modeling led to a centerfold in Penthouse, which quickly led to hard-core pornography.
"I had stars in my eyes," she recalls. "And I thought, 'Okay…maybe this is a way of having the attention and having everybody like me."
Traci grew up in an abusive home and was raped at the age of 10 by a neighborhood boy. Battling her "self-loathing," Traci says turning to the porn industry was her way of getting attention.
"I really did feel important in that world; I felt more powerful—I felt like for the first time in my life I had control."
"It wasn't about sex… it was about numbing out, finding a place to put that anger. I was very aggressive…it was vengeance…it was about attention."
In May 1986, shortly after Traci's 18th birthday, the FBI raided Traci's home. By that time, she was a porn superstar and addicted to alcohol and drugs. "I was really angry; I was at the end of my rope," she says. "I didn't see [the FBI] as my saviors at the time…but now I look back at it and I'm really grateful that they did that. Ultimately I had a second chance, a new lease on life."
After years of therapy, Traci today is an established actress, who has appeared on many TV shows and movies. She decided to keep her stage name after all. "I found you can run but you cannot hide," she says. "I really built myself a solid career and got my self-esteem.""
SELECTED CAL/OSHA HEARING TESTIMONY BY FORMER PORNOGRAPHY PERFORMERS ABOUT THE HARMS OF PORNOGRAPHY:
In March 2010 Shelley Lubben and three other former pornography performers testified at a Cal/OSHA hearing about the abuses of pornography. Additionally a current pornography performer and producer testified about the unsafe and the unhealthy conditions in pornography. For the testimony of each person please scroll down.
Note: Cal/OSHA held the hearing held to consider a petition submitted by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation to form a committee to address the possibility of amending the OSHA code to specifically address health and safety issues of pornography performers so that they will be better protected.
Former pornography performers who testified about the abuse and neglect in the pornography industry in regards to health and safety, in the order that they testified:
Shelley Lubben, Pink Cross Foundation
Jan Meza-Merritt, Former Adult Actress
Madelyne Hernandez, Former Adult Actress
Darren James, Former Adult Actor (HIV-positive from pornography)
Shelley Lubben, Executive Director of Pink Cross Foundation, stated that she is a survivor of the porn industry. As a former porn actress, she has suffered much at the hands of the porn industry and their illegal activities and hazardous work conditions. She was subjected to being forced into scenes with several male performers while there was blood, feces, urine, and seminal and vaginal fluid all over her body. These conditions are common on the sets while the performers are working. At times, the performers are made to stand on piles of rags. Most of the scenes are filmed in private homes where there is no one to monitor what goes on, and there are no advocates on the set for the young performers.
Ms. Lubben stated that she and the Pink Cross Foundation have helped more than 50 performers leave the adult film industry, and hundreds more have shared their stories. The performers report that agents are often forcing performers to do scenes or threatening them with cease and desist papers or blacklisting if the performers ask to use condoms.
Ms. Lubben stated that she contracted herpes, an incurable STD, while working as an adult film performer. In addition, she contracted human papillomavirus, one of the most prevalent STDs in the industry, for which the industry does not test. This later led to Ms. Lubben’s contraction of early cervical cancer, during which she had half of her cervix removed.
She asked that the Board convene an advisory committee to develop a standard that would protect this segment of California workers.
Jan Meza-Merritt, a former adult actress, stated that during her time in the adult film industry, she contracted herpes and chlamydia. Adult Industry Medicine (AIM) only feels it is necessary to test for HIV, chlamydia, and gonorrhea. There are many other STDs that a performer can catch and spread in the adult film industry, and the tests are only mandatory every 30 days. Once a performer does his or her next scene, the test that was just performed becomes null and void. During the 30-day waiting period, an unprotected adult film worker can catch and spread many STDs unknowingly.
As a performer, she did a scene with 25 men. She had been told that she would not have to do the scene with all 25 men, that she would be completely protected and safe, and that all of the men in the scene would be screened. That turned out to be false; she had to do the scene with all 25 men, and it was not until after the film was completed that she discovered that not all of the men were adult film performers, some of them were fans or had answered an ad in the local valley newspaper. She had semen, saliva, and sweat all over her, and people wanted to take pictures with her, which is how she discovered that some of the men were fans.
She has been on sets where the female performers have joked about taking a “seven-day vacation” because they have contracted chlamydia and it takes seven days for the medication to be effective. She has been on sets where there were blood- or semen-soaked towels or wipes laying on the floor rather than in a biohazard container, and no one did anything about it. She has been on sets where the house or the rental unit is not clean and a less than healthy workplace.
Ms. Meza-Merritt is in full support of the proposed petition decision, and she knows of many other women in the adult film industry who may be too scared to speak up, but this issue hits home for them as well. It is imperative that the adult film industry is made to protect its workers.
Madelyne Hernandez, a former adult performer, stated that she had done over 100 scenes in addition to performing on internet sites. She has worked for every company in the porn industry, and she has contracted STDs, including gonorrhea and chlamydia. While she was still very new to the industry, she had to do a scene with 75 men. She did not know that her agent was aware of the number of male performers to be included in the scene. She was told that there would only be five or six men, and when she arrived at the set, there was a long line of men. She called her agent crying and begging to be released from doing the scene. Her agent told her that she would be blacklisted and unable to work if she did not do it. At the time, she needed money, and her agent told her that the directors and producers would take care of her. She was given cocaine and alcohol to get her through the scene. The 75 men in the scene were not adult performers but they had answered an ad in LA Weekly. They ejaculated on her face, in her hair, in her mouth, and there were no condoms used. She was so distraught and intoxicated at the end of the scene that she had to be carried to the shower in a chair, which was also filmed. She became addicted to drugs and alcohol, and she went to AIM for help, but they did not help. She recalled drinking alcohol with AIM employees while they were drawing her blood. She asked that the Board adopt the proposed petition decision.
Darren James, a former adult performer, (HIV Positive due to porn), stated that he was involved in the 2004 (HIV) outbreak. The industry needs to be reconstructed. He stated that there is a lot of sexual activity between the scenes and after the scenes. A test provides a false sense of security, but no one knows what the other performers are doing behind the scenes or outside of the workplace setting. A performer cannot be aware of everyone with whom his or her partner has had sex and whether those partners have been tested. Condoms in conjunction with testing would be a big step toward prevention, and the need for both must be constantly communicated to the young people coming into the industry. Educating the performers is also an important element.
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People other than former pornography performers who testified about the abuse and neglect in the pornography industry in regards to health and safety: (In the order that they testified)
Mark Roy McGrath, UCLA School of Public Health
Brian Chase, AIDS Healthcare Foundation
Tim Tritch, Former AIM Healthcare Foundation Laboratory Representative
David Mech, Dave Pounder Productions (Current pornography producer and performer)
Jessie Jewels: "People in the porn industry are numb to real life and are like zombies walking around. The abuse that goes on in this industry is completely ridiculous. The way these young ladies are treated is totally sick and brainwashing. I left due to the trauma I experienced even though I was there only a short time."
Genevieve: "I had bodily fluids all over my face that had to stay on my face for ten minutes. The abuse and degradation was rough. I sweated and was in deep pain. On top of the horrifying experience, my whole body ached, and I was irritable the whole day. The director didn't really care how I feltt; he only wanted to finish the video."
Roxy (Shelley): "They told me if had my AIDS test that I'd be safe. I arrived on the set with my test and did a hardcore scene with two men. Within that week I was very sick with a fever of 104 and blisters all over my mouth, throat and private area. I looked like a monster. The doctor told me I had Genital Herpes. I wanted to die."
Neesa: "The truth is I let my lifestyle get the best of me. I hate life. I'm a mess. A disaster. I've attempted suicide many times."
Jersey Jaxin: "Guys punching you in the face. You have semen from many guys all over your face, in your eyes. You get ripped. Your insides can come out of you. It's never ending."
Nadia Styles: "I found out 2 days later that I had caught gonorrhea in my first scene! As quick as that the glamour of being a porn star was gone. In the five years I was shooting I caught Gonorrhea and Chlamydia many times. Sometimes both at the same time about every 3-5 months."
Tamra Toryn: "As for myself, I ended up paying the price from working in the porn industry. In 2006, not even 9 months in, I caught a moderate form of dysplasia of the cervix(which is a form of HPV, a sexually transmitted disease) and later that day, I also found out I was pregnant. I had only 1 choice which was to abort the baby during my first month. It was extremely painful emotionally and physically. When it was all over, I cried my eyes out."
Sierra Sinn: "My first scene was one of the worst experiences of my life. It was very scary. It was a very rough scene. My agent didn't let me know ahead of time... I did it and I was crying and they didn't stop. It was really violent. He was hitting me. It hurt. It scared me more than anything. They wouldn't stop. They just kept rolling." "Drugs are huge. They're using viagra. It's unnatural. The girls will be on xanax and vicodin."
Elizabeth Rollings: "I didnt want to feel the pain of penetration from an over average sized man, being told to freeze in a position until the camera man was happy with his shots was very painful. I had peoples body fluids forced on my face or anywhere else the producer pleased and I had to accept it or else no pay. Sometimes you would get to a gig and the producer would change what the scene was supposed to be to something more intense and again if you didn't like it, too bad, you did it or no pay."
Crissy Moran: "I went through more heartbreaks and became suicidal. I was taken to the hospital for panic attacks. I tried to overdose on xanax, strangle myself, and cut my wrists but not nearly deep enough. I was too scared of the pain."
Becca Brat: "I hung out with a lot of people in the Adult industry, everybody from contract girls to gonzo actresses. Everybody has the same problems. Everybody is on drugs. It's an empty lifestyle trying to fill up a void." "I became horribly addicted to heroin and crack. I overdosed at least 3 times, had tricks pull knives on me, have been beaten half to death."
Lara Roxx: "We should think about these issues right now, to change stuff around to make this a safer f**kin business. It isnt a safe business, and I thought it was, and I would have not did that scene with no condom with Darren James if it would have crossed my mind that those tests werent good and that I couldnt trust him or the people hes been with. I thought porn people were the cleanest people in the world, is what I thought." (Lara was diagnosed with HIV in April, 2004 along with four other porn stars.)
Pornland: How Porn Has Hijacked Our Sexualitytakes an unflinching look at today’s porn industry: the stories woven into the images, the impact on our culture, the effects on us as men and women, the business machine that creates and markets porn, and the growing legitimacy of porn in mainstream media. Above all, PORNLAND examines the way porn shapes and limits sexual imaginations and behaviors.
Although we are surrounded by pornographic images, many people are not aware of just how cruel and violent the industry is today. PORNLANDshows how today’s porn is strikingly different from yesterday’s Playboy and Penthouse magazines — how competition in the industry and consumer desensitization have pushed porn toward hard core extremes. And, with the advent of the internet and other digital technologies, users don’t have to wander far to access porn; todaythe average age of first viewing is about 11 for boys, and studies reveal that young men, who consume more porn than ever before, have difficulty forming healthy relationships.
PORNLAND also looks at how our porn culture affects the way women and girls think about their bodies, their sexuality and their relationships. PORNLAND: How Porn has Hijacked our Sexuality argues that rather than sexually liberating or empowering us, porn offers us a plasticized, formulaic, generic version of sex that is boring, lacking in creativity and disconnected from emotion and intimacy.
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For more information about the documented harms of pornography please visit the extremely informative new websitePornography Harms at PornHarms.com.
"Dedicated to providing the most accurate peer-reviewed research on the harm from pornography, along with relevant news and opinion."
This outstanding website comprehensively addresses the harms of pornography in regards to all of the following categories: addiction, brain science, children, cybersex, family, Internet, Internet safety, marriage, men, psychological, prostitution, relationships, research, self image, sex trafficking, sexting, sexual violence, societal, STDs, teens, and women.
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"Pornography is everywhere, and as it becomes more common in all forms of media, it is also becoming more sexist, violent, and graphic. These forms of pornography are also becoming more and more common among children and teens. Why we should worry about pornified America."
Have you taken the NO-PORN PLEDGE at NoPornPledge.com yet? If not, now would be a really great time to do so! Please click here or the banner below.
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At AntiPornography.orgwe are working to prevent and combat the devastating harms of pornography, prostitution and sex trafficking, as well as all other forms of sexual exploitation, through public education and advocacy. We are:
Note for clarification: This is not an AntiPornography.org petition and the concerned citizen who started the petition is not affiliated with this organization. A link to the petition is posted here at the request of the petition author.
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RESOURCES, FRIENDS, SUPPORTERS AND ALLIES:
(All those marked with * are friends, subscribers, or followers of AntiPornography.org at our social networking projects at YouTube, MySpace, or Twitter or have demonstrated support for our work otherwise, such as providing content for this website or linking to us or to one of our blogs and/or social networking projects. Also please note that the below list is a work in progress and that it is not complete. Please share any errors or omissions here. Thank you!)
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(For family, children, men and addiction focused resources, please scroll down.)
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ANTI-PORNOGRAPHY ORGANIZATIONS GROUPS AND WEBSITES:
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PORNOGRAPHY ADDICTION AND COMPULSION HELP AND SUPPORT:
Saavi Accountability (www.saaviaccountability.com) -- The only online accountability program that works with all online addictions. It is also the only program that sends notifications instantly via text message to an accountability partner so that they can be supportive when an individual needs it the most at the point of weakness, while they are accessing the online content. The software was created by a young man (26) who overcame his addiction and is trying to help others.
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ADDICTION MESSAGE BOARDS & DISCUSSION FORUMS FOR HELP & SUPPORT:
(Note: The No Porn Northampton FAQ is in the bottom half of their sidebar. In addition to the usual questions about pornography it addresses questions and concerns about activism against sexually oriented businesses such as "adult bookstores.")
"The only way to impede sex trafficking is to end demand—to stop buyers from buying."
Shared Hope International, "DEMAND: A Comparative Examination of Sex Tourism and Trafficking in Jamaica, Japan, the Netherlands, and the United States"
"DEMAND" - A Documentary by Shared Hope International
This excellent documentary by the anti-sex trafficking organization Shared Hope International is about demand factors for sex trafficking, one of the most significant of which is pornography. It also addresses how all forms of commercial sexual exploitation such as pornography, stripping and prostitution are connected to all other forms such as sex trafficking and sex slavery. Please visit EndDemand.org to learn more about how demand for sex trafficking is created by those individuals (mostly men) who purchase women and children for sex.
For 2 minute and 12 minute versions of the above video, as well as more information from Shared Hope about demand, please click here.
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Shared Hope International specifically focuses on fighting the demand for commercial sexual exploitaiton, including addressing pornography as a very significant demand factor for sex trafficking.
"Pornography is a marketing device for sex trafficking: It normalizes degradation and violence as acceptable and even inevitable parts of sex, and uses the bodies of real women and children as objects. The difference between pornography and erotica is clear in the roots of the words themselves -- porne means females slaves, eros means love -- so pornography, like rape, is about violence and domination, not sex. Millions of lives depend on our ability to separate pornography from erotica, and to disentangle violence from sexuality."
Gloria Steinem, 2006
For information about Gloria Steinem's important work of fighting against the harms of pornography, sex trafficking and other forms of sexual exploitation and abuse, including videos and an audio interview, please see our page on Gloria Steinem. Click here.
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For more information on how pornography fuels prostitution and sex trafficking, please see our page on Pornography and Trafficking. Click here. Thank you!
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