American Public Health Association Joins Call for Condoms, Improved Adult Film Worker Safety
from- AIDSHealthcareFoundation.com
In a newly posted position paper on its website, the American Public Health Association (APHA), the oldest and most diverse organization of public health professionals in the world representing over 50,000 health professionals and others who work to promote health, prevent disease and ensure conditions in which all can be safe and healthy, has issued a comprehensive policy statement, “Prevention and Control of Sexually Transmitted Infections and HIV among Performers in the Adult Film Industry,” that includes a series of recommendations intended to foster improved safety and workplace conditions for workers in the adult film industry. In November, members of APHA first voted to issue the policy statement; in the intervening months, APHA officials and members researched, drafted and finalized the statement and recommendations. In its statement and among its key recommendations, APHA noted, “In view of the ongoing, preventable sexual disease transmission in the adult film industry, American Public Health Association (APHA) supports…state and federal regulatory or legislative actions that would require the employer to (a) provide and require the use of condoms in the production of adult films, (b) provide appropriate medical monitoring, and (c) protect the confidentiality of the worker’s medical record.”
APHA now joins AHF, the American Medical Association, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, American Association of STD Controllers, the Los Angeles County Commission on HIV and UCLA in calling for improved adult film worker safety and enforcement of condom use requirements in adult films.
“This well-researched policy statement and related safety recommendations issued by the American Public Health Association this week adds significant weight to ongoing efforts by AHF and other AIDS advocates to improve and protect the health and safety of adult film workers,” said Michael Weinstein, President of AIDS Healthcare Foundation. “We thank APHA for contributing its considerable voice to ongoing efforts to improve worker safety on adult film sets through legislative, regulatory and enforcement means and mechanisms.”
Since an outbreak of as many as 20 HIV infections in the adult film industry in California several years ago—and the revelation that another adult film performer tested HIV positive last October—AHF and other AIDS advocates including advocates have spearheaded a multipronged campaign to improve worker safety by requiring condom use by adult film actors. As part of the effort, AHF has sued local Los Angeles County public health officials to enforce existing workplace safety regulations; it has lobbied for an overhaul of state workplace safety measures covering adult film sets in both California and Florida (the two largest production centers); it has filed worker safety complaints with state regulators against both adult film producers as well as adult talent agencies, it has sought legislation in Sacramento to more clearly codify adult film safety regulations.
In view of the ongoing, preventable sexual disease transmission in the adult film industry, American Public Health Association (APHA) issued the following nine recommendations in support of improved worker safety in the adult film industry with its public policy statement posted earlier this week:
APHA Recommendations:
1. State and federal regulatory or legislative actions that would require the employer to (a) provide and require the use of condoms in the production of adult films, (b) provide appropriate medical monitoring, and (c) protect the confidentiality of the worker’s medical record.
2. Requirements that adult film production companies maintain records available for inspection with their Custodian of Record that includes their OSHA-compliant or state plan equivalent exposure control plan, documentation that condoms were used in each production, and documentation that worker medical monitoring and health and safety training was provided.
3. Requirements that adult film production companies provide employment records to OSHA or their state plan equivalent or any state or local health department in the course of any investigation of workplace injury, illness, or transmission or exposure to an infectious disease.
4. Requirements that any clinic or medical provider that provides medical monitoring for an adult film production company collect and provide production company information to OSHA or any state or local health department in the course of any investigation of workplace transmission or exposure to an infectious disease.
5. Mandatory labeling at the beginning of each adult film that states that the adult film was produced pursuant to OSHA or the state-plan equivalent requirements.
6. Prohibition of the distribution and sales of adult films produced in violation of OSHA or the state-plan equivalent requirements to hotels, cable television content providers and others in commercial settings when condoms were not used by performers.
7. Increased federal, state, and local resources that would improve the ability of local health departments, state health departments and OSHA or the state-plan equivalent to investigate and control occupational exposures to infectious diseases and enforce workplace regulations in a timely manner.
8. Vigorous enforcement of OSHA occupational standards to reduce exposure to infectious diseases within the adult film industry.
9. Change through legislation, if necessary, such that the possession of condoms is not cause for arrest or prosecution.
“This is another tremendous step in the right direction toward protecting the health and safety of adult film workers, and I want to thank APHA officials for their thoughtful and thorough work on this,” added AHF’s Weinstein. “The adult film industry has steadfastly refused to take any steps to protect its workers from diseases spread by bloodborne pathogens, resulting in thousands of employees becoming infected with sexually transmitted diseases. We need to take the necessary steps to protect performers by providing and enforcing the use of condoms during filming so that actors in adult films enjoy the same public health and workplace protections that all workers should.”
No one should get A SINGLE DISEASE while working in the adult industry…
If anyone wishes to read the entire policy you can visit http://www.apha.org/advocacy/policy/policysearch/default.htm?id=1396
I love this part:
Throughout the course of their employment, adult film performers are routinely exposed to EXTREME and UNHEALTHY working conditions, such as…
(1) multiple and concurrent sex partners over short time periods which increases risk of transmission and acquisition of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and HIV; (2) an industry trend toward riskier types of sexual contact, such as anal or double anal and penile penetration and internal ejaculation, which increases the potential for rapid spread of STDs; (3) prolonged intercourse that may result in inadequate lubrication and anogenital trauma or bleeding, resulting in exposure to semen, seminal and vaginal/cervical fluids, and blood; and (4) lack of condoms or other barrier methods for reducing exposure to infectious bodily fluids or fecal pathogens.10,11
An analysis of condom use by Grudzen et al. found that condoms are used only 3% of the time for penile–vaginal intercourse in the heterosexual industry.12 Since 2004, only 2 of the estimated 200 adult film companies in Los Angeles County required the use of condoms for all penile–anal and penile–vaginal intercourse, and that number has since dropped to 1.14 According to many workers, if they insist on using a condom in an adult film, they will not be employed.10 Lack of barrier protection significantly increases the risks to workers for acquiring and transmitting HIV and other STDs, which have serious health consequences for workers and the community.
origen – That is a most worthwhile aim — in fact, it MUST be the aim, philosophically speaking — however, NO industry is held to a zero-risk standard (nor CAN one be). Especially when we’re talking about a type of harm that can (and often is) related to non-workplace experiences. One cannot make the presumption that EVERY transmission occurs on-set; there can never be an STD-free adult performer population while there does not exist an STD-free general population.
The rate of STD transmission is currently too high and must come down, but the solution is not to destroy the viability of the industry with a mandatory condom standard. The solution is more broad and vigorous, and/or more frequent testing.
“The rate of STD transmission is currently too high and must come down, but the solution is not to destroy the viability of the industry with a mandatory condom standard. The solution is more broad and vigorous, and/or more frequent testing.”
Agreed. But producers don’t give a shit.
The producers need only care about their businesses. They have two choices: lose a lot of money, or support/invest in better testing procedures. The chips are down.
As for the APHA position paper itself, now that I’ve sought the counsel of AIM board member emeritus Ernest Greene to clarify a few issues regarding medical privacy, I’d also like to comment briefly on a couple of its extremely problematic and legally troubling aspects (some of the wording, below, is originally Mr. Greene’s):
The paper’s recommendations are in clear conflict with established law in several areas (as well as the fourth and fifth amendments to the US Constitution). How does one provide “adequate medical monitoring” and at the same time “protect the confidentiality of the worker’s medical record?” This proposal runs up against the HIPPA laws the minute you make monitoring, which in this context can only mean testing, mandatory.
How can a requirement of record keeping documentation that condoms were used in production be accomplished without the creation of some new enforcement mechanism of dubious constitutionality to police it? The custodian of records position created under 2257 carries no such powers, therefore new legislation would be needed to somehow fold condom regulation into the already preposterous requirements of 2257 record keeping.
And who would enforce the ban on distribution of prohibited materials under this proposal? What agency has either the authority or the means to do so? And how in the world could the state of California pay for any of this?
And when did the possession of condoms ever form the basis for arrest and prosecution in the entertainment industry?
These are pipe-dreams, and mostly illegal ones at that.
I’m reading the report. I always knew the STD level was high but I’m SHOCKED at the levels of gonorrhoea and Chlamydia in the Industry.
As for Ernest Greene:
“How does one provide “adequate medical monitoring” and at the same time “protect the confidentiality of the worker’s medical record?” ”
Forgive me, but I don’t understand the question. Don’t those statements describe the current duties of AIM Healthcare and its relationship to the LA County Department of Health?
“How can a requirement of record keeping documentation that condoms were used in production be accomplished without the creation of some new enforcement mechanism of dubious constitutionality to police it?”
I don’t think any legitimate advocate is concerned with porn as a PRODUCT. They are simply concerned with the working environment in which production occurs. Thus, no one is realistically talking about CRIMINAL prosecutions after the fact. EXCEPT….
FROM POLICY REPORT:
“Other strategies were discussed that allow for enhanced enforcement with minimal cost, such as a requirement that adult film production companies maintain records available for inspection with their Custodian of Record that includes their OSHA-compliant exposure control plan and documentation that condoms were used in each production and that worker health and safety training was provided. Another strategy is to prohibit the distribution or sales of adult films where condoms are not used by performers to hotels, cable television content providers and others in commercial settings that make adult content available to customers. A third strategy is mandatory labeling at the beginning of each film that states that the adult film was produced pursuant to OSHA requirements and that condoms were used in the production of the film.”
….Yeah, this is bullshit and whoever wrote it is clearly ignorant to the legal procedures involved in producing pornography.
@origen – As we’ve discussed before, the rates of actual infection(s) are currently being independently tallied. The numbers being bandied about by LADPH et al, are derived from the raw number of positive test results, not the number of cases. Many times you’ll find multiple positive tests for the same performer during the same case of a STI. Similarly, AIM does not only test adult industry performers. It also tests civilians AND people who seek to enter the industry but are excluded because of the initial test screening.
The numbers in this policy statement are not definitive.
“How does one provide ‘adequate medical monitoring’ and at the same time ‘protect the confidentiality of the worker’s medical record?'” The answer is different when you’re talking about a private organization to which individuals may grant a release (a medical organization with certain legal requirements to report raw numbers of infections, and not personal data), and when you’re speaking of a government program which collects, stores and may utilize all such data — including personal and workplace information.
A similar problem arises with the record keeping recommendations — they would clearly violate the fourth and fifth amendments: a warrantless seizure of possible self-incriminating information.
One other thing: you write, “I don’t think any legitimate advocate is concerned with porn as a PRODUCT.” You are mistaken — LA County’s Dr. Peter Kerndt, AND AHF’s Michael Weinstein both object to THE CONTENT of condomless porn. It’s the message they claim it sends. They are opposed to this type of product being sold at market, period. The health of the performing population has nothing to do with it. Have you read that email from Michael Weinstein regarding me and Shelley Lubben? Or Dr. Kerndt’s manifesto from a couple years back?
I wonder how many folks will use this mandatory condoms issue as a vehicle to try and “stamp out porn when the police and court system could not get rid of it”? Probably some of the same mentality that exists that wants a .xxx internet address for all porn even tho all the experts say that is not a fair or just thing to do.
@Karmafan – I believe you’ve put your finger on it once again. This is an attempt to use a regulatory scheme to circumvent the proscription on outlawing a brand of constitutionally protected speech. After all the failed obscenity prosecutions, the anti-porn forces have now latched on to this vehicle. The accursed Shelley Lubben has basically admitted as much:
From msnbc, May 2010:
Lubben said plainly that she’d “love to see porn come down.”
“America just sees the finished product, so we’re just exposing this terrible evil and slavery,” she said, adding that she was taking on the pornography industry because “God gave me this vision.”
Lubben acknowledged that the AIDS Healthcare Foundation had different long-term goals, but she said she was happy to work with anyone who could advance the Pink Cross mission.
“We believe the beast can be stabbed in seven different places and bleed to death,” she said…. Right now, the issue that’s working is workplace safety, and, through it, Lubben has “found a common denominator” with the AIDS Healthcare Foundation.
Im no fan of government forced anything, including condom use but the job that AIM has done in std prevention is absolutely abysmal. For years I have said if they don’t get their shit together the government will do it for them…well now the chickens are coming home to roost….can’t blame that shit on Shelly…
You’re right about the second part, Mike (although Shelley does admit to having spread herpes to others). However, I think there’s plenty of blame to go around for the first part.
I’ll be the first one to admit that AIM is not perfect, but AIM is but one factor in all of this. The performers, the producers, the agents, economic factors affecting the performers, and the incidence of infection in the surrounding population all play a part. There’s plenty of blame to go around. However, the solution is not to promulgate another set on regulations which are not industry-appripriate, i.e., which will kill production.
I say more thorough testing, more often — and optional condoms.
I agree completely but the more testing more often was always avoided because plain and simple if everyone with herpes or hpv were tossed from the talent pool 75% of the talent pool would be gone overnight, thats why they dont test for it.
So here we are…and too late to fix it to our satisfaction….sucks really but we have only ourselves to blame, Shelly is just doing what all porners do…she is exploiting the situation to her benefit…her and Steve Hirsch are just alike….nothing but publicity whores whoring themselves with no shame.
Whatever the reasons were in the past, here we are now and eggs must get broken to make omelettes, Mike. That’s the reality.
But first we need real, reliable numbers as least as to the STI’s for which the industry already tests. Making policy before we know the actual numbers is crazy — and making recommendations about policy implementation and enforcement before the policy is written (as APHA is doing, above) is twice as crazy.
I am led to believe that the long-awaited independent review of the data is very close. Whatever it shows, the industry must be prepared to act.
good luck widdat yer gonna get condoms THEN numbers like it or not…thats reality.
GREAT,
All of these organizations are now calling for concoms in porn, EXCEPT for the one and only organization that can actually make it happen, The California State LEGISLATURE.
@Michael, Who is doing this INDEPENDENT analysis of AIM’s records?
Many employers are required(by legislation) to keep medical records about their employees, and ot keep them confidential. Why should porn, where there is no doubt whatsoever that disease is being spread in the workplace, be exempt from such regulation?
Michael, who and what leads you to beleive that this INDEPENDENT investigation is nearing completion, and what is taking so long? Is AIM giving their information to some organization to do this, without violating the HIPPA privacy laws?
And everyone keeps talking about increasing the testing, of course, its ALWAYS the performers(employees) who are paying for it. LO effing L,,producers are going to require performers to pay for more testing to cover their own asses. Giveme a fucking break.
Michael talks about Shelley admitting that she gave herpes to other performers. At least she has the guts to admit it, unlike virtually every other performer who ever showed up on a set with gonnorheah, chalmydia, PID, HPV,Herpes,trichomonis, staph,warts,etc. etc. etc. etc.
Making policy before we know the actual numbers Michael? LOL You dont think AIM has known the actual number for YEARS, who do you think youre fooling.
ANd for the record, Idont beleive Michael for one single second that this INDEPENDENT review is even taking place. Lets see this review Michael, or at least a statement from AIM that it is actually taking place, not some unidentied source. LOL SO far, AIM has said NOTHING about any review of their stats.
Does anybody know who now OWNS AIM, the private corporation,,,,Micheal? Does anybody know who is doing this review?
What really cracks me up here is that NO ONE has mentioned LEGISLATION as the solution, which also leads me to believe that no one here really has a fucking clue. Keep up the Shelley crusade Michael, your obsession with her is filling her donation tray every week.
I am calling BULLSHIT on this INDEPENDENT review.
@Mike South – In all likelihood you’re right, and then it will end up in the courts.
@Joe – Still at it, huh?
There are lots of ways to share private information without violating privacy laws, such as redaction. I am not at liberty to disclose the source of the information I reported, but I stand by the report. I also have no specific information on a date by which the review will be completed. My guess is that the goal would be well in advance of the June 7 OSHA meeting, but that is only my educated guess.
You ask, with typical inscrutable brio, “Does anybody know who now OWNS AIM, the private corporation,,,,Micheal? Does anybody know who is doing this review?”
The answer to both questions is, quite obviously, “Yes.” However, I am not among those in the know.
And I’ll tell you what I told Shelley when she said all I was doing was giving her publicity and promoting her: I will promote her right into the penitentiary.
A little Gramsci would do you good, Michael. You can’t win a public debate about porn against a WASPy Evangelical…
Hell, whitacre, I wish you’d promote her right back into porn. I wanna’ see dem’ titties, because they’re like, you know, God’s tits.
@origen – You’re correct – one cannot reason with an unreasonable mind. But one can point out their shortcomings to an audience. I seek to educate the audience about Mrs. Lubben.
@Fartz – Funny you should write that, because she recently posted a pic of herself with her mascara all running from “crying” (which I personally doubt; I don’t think a person as damaged as her actually CAN cry; it’s always crocodile tears) and in the comments beneath it she wrote: “My tears are the tears of Jesus.” More blasphemy from St. Shelley.
…and the audience will always favor the religious WASP.
@origen – It depends on the audience. The audience at Cambridge certainly didn’t favor her. Also, I’ve received DOZENS of emails and comments from self-described Christians imploring me to not think that they are all like Shelley Lubben. I’ve received many more notes from Americans who were inspired to write out of more secular concerns over Mrs. Lubben and her “Foundation.” The message is definitely getting out.
As the truth circulates, and filters down, Lubben will become persona non grata in more and more forums. I’d be very surprised if Gail Dines will be taking any more bookings with her, for instance. She can always show up to offer comments at public hearings, but no respectable institution will host her. Her days of being passed off as someone qualified to offer “expert” testimony are drawing to a close.
I saw a video of the Cambridge debate while I was in SF, by the way. There are laughs audible at some of Lubben’s claims — particularly when she claims to have “irrefutable evidence.” Gail Dines winced when Lubben spoke.
According to Anna Span, there is no evidence to suggest Ms. Dines wishes to disassociate herself from Shelly Lubben. The radical feminists have a maternalistic disposition towards former sex-workers. Hence the “unholy alliance” between marxists and evangelicals.
“In the Green Room afterwards, Gail Dines had a go at me for picking on “poor Shelley Lubben” who, according to her, was not powerful in the U.S. and had had no influence in shutting down AIM Healthcare. Gail accused me of making a personal attack against Shelley, which, in her eyes, was unnecessary and cruel. I pointed out that I hadn’t made personal attacks against the other two members of the opposition, only the one who put her personal story up as the central theme of her argument. Gail replied that she had not researched the opposition for weaknesses, claiming that her argument ought to be enough to convince the audience that she was right. I think she now realises she underestimated us. Big mistake.”
I think you’re misinterpreting Anna’s comments. I’ve been in touch with Anna for months and interviewed her for the documentary right after the debate.
Maternalism is one thing, but being embarrassed by a bunch of pro-porn adult performers, and one academic fresh out of grad school is quite another. One would have to see the video as I have to understand the mental discomfort she was obviously experiencing when Lubben ranted on and on.
In my view, Dines was simply taking Span to task for not being a “true” woman — a traitorous non rad-fem who dared defy her, and her pet, poor weak Shelley.
As for Dines being a Marxist — she has SERVANTS at her home. Like, “ring a bell and they come and serve you” servants. She’s nothing more than a man-hating wannabe pro-domme with a degree. She even has the haircut.
Wow. Servants. The life of a tenured bullshitter…
@Origen,
For the record, what do you say Michaels and Jeremy’s haricusts suggest about them?
@Michael, how can a study of AIM’s statistics ever be given any crediblility if we dont know who did the study? Keep your source that tells you the study is happening secret confidential, thats fine, but who is doing the study? Without knowing who did this INDEPENDENT study wouldnt you think its pretty worthless? But lets wait and see if you want, IF this study ever comes out perhaps we will find out then who did it.
And again, what typically happens when an injury like an anal or vaginal tear happens? Do these injuries that require action to be taken at a hospital typically get reported to OSHA like they should, and who pays? Funny how you know so much about Shelly and what she does, but you dont seem to know what happens on a porn set, or at least arent willing to say what happens on a porn set. Why not?
@Joe know – When the study is released, you’ll find out who did it, although I doubt that a Sharon Mitchell hater such as yourself will ever be satisfief with any study. For folks like you, when the facts don’t fit the ideology, the facts must be wrong.
STFU with the condom issue, already! Condoms don’t make things safe. Do you know how many gays have been deemed “HIV+”? Do you really think, knowing how prevalent “AIDS” is in the gay community and how many who have watched friends die, that they aren’t using protection? The chance of a condom breaking or HIV sized-particles slipping through the open pores in a rubber are enormously greater than the chance of catching “HIV” from “unprotected” sex with an “HIV+” person. These condom-nazis are just whores for the pharmaceutical companies. And for God’s sakes already if you’re insisting on using a condom get a fuckin’ brain and have some consistency and wear it during oral. Many more people have the virus for oral herpes but how many refuse to kiss anyone? Its a matter of personal choice in regards to taking risks for potential reward$. Fucking a cunt is called stunt work. If the road is too scary for you to cross than don’t cross it, or if a performer has a personal preference for condoms its their right to insist, NOT OSHA, NOT AHF!
But Jeremy, even stunt men have employment protections and generous compensation guarantees. You have very little…
I didn’t think I had any, O.
So sorry…but this APHA group sounds more like an astroturf group simply rehashing AHF talking points. Why have I never heard of them before this??
And..the issue one more time is NOT about whether condoms are effective or not, but whether performers should retain the choice of using them or whether outside officials or the government should be able to impose condoms on performers against their stated will.
Of course, fundamentalist whacks like Joe Know and the Ministeress have their right to disagree.
And the same goes for Mike South, too.
Anthony
@Michael,
So perhaps you can tell us what the FACTS are when a girl hets her ass, throat or vagina ripped during a scene. YOU seem to know all the FACTS about Shelley, SURELY you must know the facts about this issue. Please, enlighten us to thefacts on this SIMPLE request. At least tell us WHY you wont address this issue of injuries that happen regularly(and shoudl be reported to OSHA,but thats a different issue.) Your silence speaks volumes in and of itself. Or could it be that the truth about tis issue doesnt fit YOUR AGENDA.
And you talk about promoting Shelley all the way to prison. On what charges.
Michael, could you maybe figure out how all of the assests of the now defunct AIM Healthcare Non Profit Organization ended up in the hands of the privately owned AIM Corporation? Or maybe resident JOURNALIST Mark Kernes could do a lttle investigative journalism on this one. LOL,,,,,Or does AIM non profit actually still exist,(but is just not running a testing program, but still PAYING its ‘director’) and the new ’employees’ of the coproprationa are being used to actually administer this “shadow” portion of the non profit. How abut looking into that one, and blazing a trail to prison for those involved in this one.LOLOLOLOL YOU aint got a clue Michael. INDEPENDENT review LO effing L.
LOL
Jeremy, if a nurse has a personal preference not to wear gloves should that be her choice too? And remember, the nurse is wearing the gloves PRIMARILY for his/her protection, not yours.
Jeremy, as a veteran performer, I think you would be best qualified here to give your opinion on the question I asked above. What usually happens when a girl gets a ripped vagina or anus on set, or perhaps you can tell us why NOBODY in the industry will answer this question here.
Regarding Gail Dines, Shelley, and other antiporn organizations like Stoppornculture, and Citizens For Community Values.
Despite ALL their efforts, porn is more available, to more people, is viewed more now more than ever before, and is still more accesible to childre today thanit was yesterday, and will be more available tomorrow than it is today.
And despite all of the OSHA meetings, hearings, conferences or what ever you want to call them, not a single thing has changed in the production of porn. And regardless of the outcome of these proceedings, WHEN EVER that may be, the industry will just continue to ignore the law as they do today, and OSHA will continue not to enforce the law, just as they do today. Its all ‘much ado about nothing.’
@Michael, is the TRUTH your agenda, if so, what is the truth about the injuries I mentioned above. Or is it YOUR VERSION of the truth that is your agenda.,ie. The truth, half the truth, and just the half that makes the other guys look bad? Not the truth about the ‘bad’ side of your industry, which does exist, doesnt it Michael?
I have to somewhat agree with joe. There are a lot of injuries that occur on set that are not reported to Cal-OHSA nor settled by any formal means of arbitration. That’s kinda unsettling because it may screw the performer in the long run.
But, really, injuries are of minuscule importance compared to STD infection. That affects far more performers…
Michael, please don’t let this independent survey bullshit me. I can do math so I know what’s a credible survey and what’s not…
..I’m just sayin’. You said it will be fair, so I’ll trust you.
@Origen,
Thanks for ‘somewhat’ ageeing with me.
There is an old thread on ADT some years back where Teagan talks about spending, get this, 25,000.oo to pay for to get her anus fixed.
These injuries are not miniscule. When a guy with a ten inch cock rams it up that petite little girls ass the injuries can be severe, and have LONG LONG term consequences, long after the girl leaves the industry.
Just go sit at the emergency entrance to St. Josehps Hospital in burbank for two days. I guarantee you will see a porn girl coming directly from a set to have some type of injury taken care of, and I guarantee you that SHE will be paying the bill hersef. Origen, have you ever wondered what can happen when a girl doing a reverse cowgirl with a guy who has a ten inch cock has her foot slip off his thigh and she comes ‘crashing’ down on that monster rod? The injuries can be SEVERE.
And Origen, dont hold your breath on any independent survery. The FACT that AIM has never, ever, in the past even said how many performers, compared to how many ‘tests’ they perform leads me to believe that there is NO WAY they would hand their information, owver to any organization that would truely do an unbiased, survery. IT AINT HAPPENIN’ Any survery would have to include the number of INDIVIDUAL PEOPLE being tested, as opposed to the number of tests performed. Remember, the same performers are tested multiple times in a year. Dr. Aranow, from AIm, says we do 10,000 tests with a a positive rate of 5,8%……What he doesnt say is those 10,000 tests are done on many fewer individual…See what I mean?
You can always ask Amee Donovan about that if she was still doing porn. She was forced into retirement for having her rectum torn up doing a scene. She probably went back to wherever she came from and is stripping or escorting.
re amee donovan not only had to have rectal surgery she contracted venerial warts, and herpes among other things.
She is from Dayton Oh.
so is felicia fox
they both entered the biz around the same time…felicia had a successful run amee didnt
The difference was fifi was older and approached it more maturely, insisting on condom use for most of her career, felicia also had someone watching her back..me
Amee had none of the above
Most producers in this biz give a rats ass about the physical or emotional well being of the performers. As a result we got AHF and Pink Cross and OSHA
You reap what you sow people
all the whining in the world ain’t gonna change the outcome of this one.
@MIKE SOUTH,
Who paid the bill when this happened to Ms. Donovan? (just curious)
interesting question Joe…The taxpayers paid 90% of it Amee paid 10%
OH has some sort of assistance program for these things and she qualified.
Now that there opens a can of worms huh…..
The rumor was that Lex Steele and a couple other well endowed male talent were the ones that tore her up doing a rough GB scene for anabolic. The girl did lots of DPs and GBs right away one right after another and the only way girls survive for long in this business is to be smart about that type of thing and pace themselves.
For fuck’s sake! Somebody needs to start a union!
And who’s gonna be porn’s Jimmy Hoffa, Dennis Hof?
FUCK NO! A talented and successful attorney who cares about the adult industry and performers.
You mean you don’t want a guy who takes half and also gets to hit that poontang anytime he wants, too?
You got it. Hof is an exploitative asshole.
When I become a lawyer, I’ll my own agency and work hard to form a union. Dreams… *sigh*
Sooner or later 1 of 2 things is going to happen…
1. Some organization/union that looks out for the talent will have to be formed.
or
2. The industry will be knocked out of existence by the govt. Right now the big thing going on is the diseases and condoms and everyone is focusing on that. People that want to get rid of porn have latched onto that as the way to get rid of porn. Sooner or later tho some career politician is gonna come along “in the best interest of society” and make a big stink about “these beautiful but dumb young girls” that are exploited by an industry of sharks that use the girls up and spit them out destitute, diseased, and broken (thats how they will spin it at any rate).
The smart move would be to choose to make some sort of a union for the performers rather then down the road let some politician force it on the industry.
@Mike South
Thanks Mike. Can of worms indeed. I’d rather use that can of worms and go do a little cat fishin’ down on Millerton Creek in Alabama.
As far as a ‘Union’,,,the vast majority of perfromers are way to ‘short term’ for there ever to be a “real” union, like SAG. And the LAST thing the current group of agents wants is any union(unless they run it themselves, and how legit would that be?)) Any union would look after the best interest of the perfromer, and we all know that is the LAST thing on the minds of producers agents and directors.
By the way, whaterver happend to LATATA? LOL
And how big of a joke does everyone think it is now that the FSC says THEY represent the TALENT at the OSHA hearing? Who are they fooling, except the vast majority of the talent actually? Thats the biggest joke of all, 80% of the talent have never heard of OSHA and the other 20% could care less.
@Karfman,,,And just how does the ‘industry’ SPIN the average experience of the average, mostly female performers? LOL another joke. Industry spin example,,,our girls LOVE performing anal sex without condoms, as a matter of fact, they PREFER to have unprotected anal sex with other sex workers who have had multiple partners. The ULTIMATE industry spin, “It is safer to have unprotected anal sex with a porn performer than with the average Joe, or Josephine.” Only someone in porn would actually believe that. And only a ‘porn MEDICAL clinic’ would acttually, in real life, tell this to their patients. LOL
Karfman, would you agree that things spin in both directions.
Joe, a an agency-run union would work. The short-term aspect of the Industry doesn’t matter. NOBODY, I don’t care how drugged out they are, would want to contract a disease they don’t have and could possibly have for life. Disease-free talent look more attractive too.
I read this on the net today:
THE NEXT SUPERBUG!
When exactly gonorrhea burst onto the scene is not known, and although it’s existed for centuries, scientists say it has a fair chance of being the next superbug. The World Health Organization estimates there are 340 million new cases worldwide of all sexually transmitted diseases, including gonorrhea, every year in people among the ages of 15 to 49. What makes gonorrhea dangerous is that it has very few symptoms until the disastrous ones, such as ectopic pregnancy and pelvic inflammatory disease. But this is not the only factor in pushing gonorrhea toward a superbug—also there are very few new drugs available because it is not as deadly an STD as HIV/AIDS or even syphilis. As a result, doctors normally treat gonorrhea that is drug resistant by piling on more antibiotics, causing the bacteria to grow stronger and stronger.
@Origen,
The leglity of the licensed agents running any union would be very suspect.
And I just dont see a bunch of 18 to 22 year old girls paying union dues on a regular basis. Paying ‘union dues’ along with the regular agent cut to Derek Hay? Aint ever going tohappen.
The industry has to make some changes or the govt. will make the changes for them. It has to happen sooner or later.
We’ll figure out something, Joe. I misspoke. I did not mean that agencies would “run” a proposed union–that is illegal and counter-productive–but they probably would have to have a role in mobilizing talent. And I’m not talking about superpimps like Hay, I’m talking about people who genuinely care about talent.
And yeah, talent would have to pay dues + commissions but collective bargaining offers pay-rate protections. Performers would come out ahead.
Question: Would the AFL-CIO unconditionally issue a charter for an adult entrainment talent agency?
You guys give performers no mental credit whatsoever. Do you think the wannabee porn stars sit around the house dreaming of going out to the valley to take small, safe cocks in their tender, sensitive little holes? For fucks’ sake people, they’re whores. I’m pretty sure they know the possible consequences of huge cocks. You can’t get into the mindset that these girls are victims. It’s quick money, and any girl that thinks it can be pulled off easily will quickly learn life lessons. And Joeknow, if you mention ripped vaginas one more fucking time, I’m writing you off as a Shelley Lubben alt.
And just in case you write me off as some kind of woman hater, just ask my buddy Merriam Webster what a whore is:
“a woman who engages in sexual acts for money”
Thank you, Mr. Webster, I couln’t have said it better, myself.
For fuck’s sake, Fartz even whores don’t deserve to contract all sorts of diseases just to earn a buck…
C’mon, Origen. Let’s quit pretending that porn isn’t jack-off fodder. That being said, the one thing that about 95% of those jacking off can agree on is the fact that condoms suck. Have you ever fucked with a condom on, Origin? It’s terrible! It’s like ordering the perfect, most delicious plate of food, then pouring the entire salt shaker on it and eating it anyway. It’s like washing your feet with your socks on, and the industry knows this. Condoms completely ruin the fantasy and illusion. They know that condoms will destroy the market. Regardless of how you feel, the industry will always put their jacking-off customer base first. Do you think Vivid* dropped their condom-only policy because of improvements in the treatments of STD’s? Fuck,no. They did it because it was decreasing their revenue. No profiting business is in business to provide the service they provide. They’re in business to make money, plain and simple. If it’s not profitable, it won’t be there, and them’s the facts.
*It could have been Wicked, or maybe Vivid and Wicked I’m thinking of that had the condom policy in the 90’s. I don’t know. I don’t follow the Walt Disney side of the Industry that much.
I didn’t say I was for condoms, Fartz. All I said was that I was for eliminating the presence of disease in the industry.
Yes, firms exist to make money but there are certain standards to conducting business.
Origin, you should know that the only way to eliminate the presence of disease is complete abstinence. Go look at STD statistics for the general public. People fuck, dude. Get used to it.
You’re going to have to explain how eliminating disease and anti-condom stances go hand in hand in your mind, because you completely lost me there, buddy.
The rates for the Industry are MUCH higher than for the general public.
As for how to eliminate disease without mandating condoms–more rigorous testing would be a start.