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Tag: rape culture

France: Support the Case Against the Jacquie et Michel Porn Empire

NOV 16, 2020

An appeal from Osez le Féminisme!

Three French feminist organisations – Osez le Féminisme!, Le Mouvement du Nid, and Les Effronté.es – are delighted that following their campaigning, the Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office has decided to open a preliminary investigation against the company “Jacquie et Michel” for aggravated pimping and rape.

In the face of the flood of testimonies, this trial will be, thanks to the mobilisation of all of us and the courage of the women who are speaking out, a trial against the criminal system that is the “pornographic industry”, an opportunity to hear the survivors of this extreme male violence, and a chance to denounce and put an end to the impunity of pornocrats.  

Alongside the victims, we want to support their heroic courage in speaking up and demanding justice. We want to offer them legal and psychological support, constant support at their side. Our associations are also considering becoming civil parties to weigh in on the trial alongside the victims.

To do this, we need resources: Based on 15 victims, we have evaluated a funding requirement of 81 KE (legal support phase 1 = 22%, legal support phase 2 = 55%, psychological support = 7%, transport and hotel costs = 3%, bailiff costs = 11%).

You can support this campaign by:

  • Financially support the victims by making a donation through the HelloAsso platform (link)
  • Supporting our desire to raise awareness and mobilise public opinion by relaying our visuals on social networks (to be found here and here). 

Pornography: An Alibi for Hatred, Torture and Organised Crime

Pornography has no legally binding definition. However, this term hides a long list of violent and abusive acts which are severely punishable under criminal codes and by international conventions: torture, rape, abuse of vulnerability, pimping, human trafficking, incitement to sexist and racist hatred, sexist and racist insults… Words can be powerful, they can provide impunity for criminals.

All over the world, lawsuits and trials are multiplying and survivors are speaking out. In France, in September, a preliminary investigation against the pornography site “Jacquie and Michel” for rape and pimping was opened by the Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office. In October, four French pornographers were indicted for rape, pimping and human trafficking.

What is now referred to as the “porn industry”, with billions of dollars in profits worldwide (219,985 videos are viewed every minute on Pornhub), actually conceals large-scale criminal networks of pimping and human trafficking. The methods used by the porn video production industry are sophisticated and identical to those used by human trafficking networks: grooming, trust-building, submission through rape, exploitation, coercion, and reversal of guilt. It is based on the age-old and misogynistic myth of a woman as a sexual object who is eager for self-destruction.

The filming of sexual acts under economic and psychological coercion, sexual assault and rape, even acts of torture and barbarism are the daily reality of the pornocriminal system. It traps vulnerable women and forces them, in spite of their clearly expressed refusal or by surprise oftentimes, to participate in scenes of sodomy, double penetration, gang rapes, beatings, slapping, choking, suffocation, urination, facial ejaculation in packs… This abuse, rape and torture, leaves women with physical sequelae (anal or vaginal tearing, infection…) as well as serious psycho-traumatic scarring. A picture of a criminal system causing unparalleled violence emerges. This picture is so different from the one the people, who have an interest in making us believe that exploited women have “inordinate sexual appetites”, want us to have. 

Only complacency can lead one to believe that a film shoot with extreme acts of violence, can provide something other than physical and psychological pain to the women subjected to it.

The impact of pornography is not limited to the women subjected to violence during the filming, but is imposed on society as a whole.

Pornography glorifies misogyny, racist and lesbophobic hatred and intolerance, resentment towards the poor, paedocriminality, humiliation and dehumanisation of women and girls. In two clicks you can find racist, paedocriminal and misogynistic titles such as “black teen gets fucked by white man” or “submissive slutty schoolgirl”.

Pornography conveys the idea that sexuality is inseparable from brutality. It legitimises violence against girls and women since it is based on sex essentialism: the notion that women are different by nature therefore they need to be degraded in order to experience pleasure. This is the same notion found in rape apology discourse. Thus, pornography caters to the patriarchal ideology that men should dominate women in society. Spanking, choking, corrective rapes… Pornography portrays women who “stay in their place”, subjected to the power of men. It glorifies male domination since it is inspired by, and perpetuate, violence against women.

The systematic imposition of these recurrent and ubiquitous images reduces the sexual imagination of individuals, as the studies cited by feminist sociologist Gail Dines in Pornland show. Thus, whereas sexuality should be a continuum of experience and learning, pornography leads to a dehumanisation of women that is found at all levels of society. Under the guise of freedom, “porn” is in fact the assertion of male sexual privilege, and the possibility for some to take advantage of women’s vulnerability in order to make a fortune.

Like racism, the glorification of hatred and humiliation of human beings -especially women- is illegal. Torture, barbaric acts, rape are criminal acts.  The European Convention on Human Rights places the onus on member states to effectively combat all attacks on human dignity. The impunity enjoyed to date by the “porn” criminal networks is clearly a violation of international law!

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Why You Should Document Abuse

Your records may be allowed as evidence in court
Jun 08, 2015 By DomesticShelters.org

Keeping a diary of domestic violence incidents—both physical and non-physical—may seem like the last type of record a survivor would like to collect. The truth is, this type of documentation can be an integral part of your case when it comes time to file charges, file for divorce or file for custody of your children.

According to WomensLaw.org, each state has its own laws about what evidence is permissible in court. It’s best to talk to an attorney or legal advocate prior to your court hearing to learn more about your state’s laws. In the meantime, recording and gathering the following types of documentation can benefit you:

  • Verbal accounts of the abuse from you and any witnesses. This can include not only physical abuse, but also verbal abuse, stalking, or financial, reproductive or spiritual abuse. Ask these witnesses if they would testify on your behalf in court. You can subpoena a witness, which will force them to appear in court. Visit Womenslaw.org for more information on this process.
  • Medical reports of injuries from the abuse. Ask your doctor about safe ways they can make notes about this abuse, advises The National Domestic Violence Hotline. For example, some can write “cause of injury” on your medical records, without the report having to go to the police.
  • Pictures of any injuries from the abuse, documented with the date the photo was taken.
  • Police reports from when you or any witness called the police.
  • Objects in your home broken by the abuser.
  • Photos showing your home in disarray after a violent episode.
  • Pictures of weapons used by the abuser to harm or threaten you.
  • A personal diary or calendar in which you documented the abuse as it happened. This could also include a stalking log. The National Center for Victims of Crime shows an example stalking log here.
  • Digital evidence. Let your abuser’s or stalker’s threatening calls go to voicemail, and then save those voicemails. Save emails, threatening texts, screenshots of 30 missed calls in a row, etc.

Finally, make sure the place in which you to choose to save these items is a safe one. Don’t keep this evidence in the same home you share with your abuser. Keep it at a friend’s or family member’s house, in a safe deposit box or at your place of employment.

And, advises The Hotline, listen to your gut—if it’s not the right time to compile this evidence because your safety will be at risk, hold off. Know that what’s safe for one person, may not be safe for you. 

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Do Survivors Lie?

False allegations of domestic violence are rampant … or are they?

Google “false allegations of domestic violence” and a litany of defense attorneys and men’s rights groups would have you believe that nearly every person who reports domestic violence is lying.

One site even suggests some 70 percent of restraining orders are trivial or false. The article cites a study that concludes 60 percent (not 70 percent as the article proclaimed) of restraining orders are unnecessary or based on false allegations of abuse. But how the “study” got to that number is by discarding any petition for a restraining order that didn’t include actual or threatened physical violence. As any domestic violence advocate or prosecutor will tell you, domestic violence doesn’t only include physical abuse. Other forms of abuse are often predecessors of physical violence, such as stalking, threats or coercive control.

Meanwhile, other sources report the rate of false allegations of domestic violence is low and in line with the rate of false reports of other crimes, such as theft and burglary.

So, why the discrepancy?

Without Physical Proof, Some Survivors Are Labeled Liars

“A lot of it has to do with studies’ biases and methodologies,” says Melissa Hamilton, J.D., Ph.D., visiting criminal law scholar with the University of Houston Law Center. “From a methodological perspective, if you were to count cases that are marked ‘unfounded’ as lies, that’s not sound logic.”

And yet, that’s exactly what some studies on false allegations of domestic violence rely on, according to Hamilton. Just because a case had insufficient evidence to make an arrest or was turned down for prosecution, that doesn’t mean the reporting party made up the abuse.

“A lot of times police are looking for a physical sign of assault, but not all injuries show up right away,” Hamilton says. “So police might close it out as ‘unfounded,’ but it would not be fair to say it’s a false report.”

Police will sometimes mark cases unfounded if they suspect the highly contentious idea of mutual abuse, where its thought that both parties played equal parts in the violence. In reality, self-defense can be incorrectly labeled as mutual abuse when both parties have injuries or both parties admit to using physical violence.

Survivors More Likely to Lie That Abuse Didn’t Occur

According to a 2008 study by law professor Nicholas Bala and three other researchers, in the context of custody disputes, mothers make deliberate false reports less than 2 percent of the time. Fathers are 16 times more likely to make deliberate false reports which contributes to disbelieving true reports made by mothers.

“It is critical to emphasize that the making of false allegations of spousal abuse is much less common than the problem of genuine victims who fail to report abuse,” reads the study.

Deputy district attorney in Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Family Violence Division, Miji J. Vellakkatel, agrees—it’s far more likely for survivors to lie and say they were not abused when, in fact, they were.

“People do sometimes change their statements from the initial report to preliminary hearing or trial,” Vellakkatel says. “But in most cases, it’s minimization. We tend to get victims saying, ‘It was my fault,’ or they no longer wish to participate. When a person decides not to participate in a case, I think people jump to assume that they were lying.”

But Vellakkatel says he doesn’t think that’s the case.

“In my experience, false reports of domestic violence are very rare,” he says, adding he’s only come across one case in his career that was dismissed because the incident was fabricated.

Vellakkatel encourages survivors to report abuse, even when they’re concerned they might not be believed.

“Do not be concerned about being believed or not. Be concerned about your personal safety or your children’s safety,” he says. “If we do not file a case, it’s not because we didn’t believe you. It’s because there’s insufficient evidence to prove a case beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Read more about the importance of evidence in criminal and family court and what exactly you should document in “Why You Should Document Abuse.” 

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“Am I In Porn?”: This Tool Searches Porn Sites to See if Your Images are Used in Videos

JULY 19, 2022

Created by a German AI company called deepXtech UG, “Am I In Porn?” is a search engine that exists to help you find out if you appear on porn sites.

1 in 8.

According to research by the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative (CCRI), a nonprofit organization that offers services to victims of cyberbullying and cyber harassment, 1 in 8 is the number of social media-using survey respondents who said that they themselves had been victims of nonconsensual porn, also known as image-based sexual abuse.

And another 1 in 20 even admitted to having shared a sexually graphic image of another person without their consent.

Related: The New York Times Exposé That Helped Spark the Possible Beginning of the End of Pornhub

Those stats clearly exhibit a massive problem, but some underlying issues are making things worse.

Let’s dive into what’s going on and discuss what tools exist to fight the problem.

Porn sites make loads of money from nonconsensual porn and rape tapes

It’s possible that porn sites are incentivized not to take down nonconsensual porn and rape tapes because they’re popular. More views mean more money from advertisements for the sites, after all.

Take the story of 14-year-old Rose Kalemba, for example. In 2009, she was abducted by men driving around her neighborhood and reportedly raped by them for hours. After being stabbed multiple times and nearly dying, she was able to escape.

Sadly, one nightmare was quickly replaced by another. Only months after the attack, she reportedly discovered six videos of her rape on Pornhub. They were being shared by her schoolmates, and it led to intense bullying from classmates.

Related: How My Images were Stolen, Manipulated, and Nonconsensually Posted to a Porn Site

Rose spent the next half-year emailing Pornhub, requesting that they take down the videos. But, even with her explaining that she was a minor in the videos, her requests came up empty—Pornhub didn’t even respond to her and the videos stayed live on the site.

Finally, Rose set up an email account and contacted Pornhub posing as a lawyer threatening a lawsuit. Within 48 hours of the email, the videos of her were gone.

That’s right: the porn site reportedly ignored the “harmless” underage rape victim for months, but listened to the “credible” lawyer in a matter of days.

And why’d they do this? It might be because they had such a poor content moderation and review system, or because videos of her were maybe helping them rake in more cash. Either way, it doesn’t look good for one of the world’s most popular free porn sites.

Tools and tips that’ll help you fight nonconsensual porn

Rose’s story isn’t a one-time thing, it’s becoming a more frequent issue. As that’s the case, here are some tips and tools that can help you protect yourself.

According to Caleb Chen, an internet privacy advocate at Private Internet Access, a personal private network service, one thing you can do is make sure your phone isn’t automatically backing up into the cloud.

Related: “I Wasn’t in Control of My Body”: How the Porn Industry Cashes In on Nonconsensual Content

When you take a photo on an iPhone, it encourages you to back it up on iCloud (a bunch of servers run by Apple) and many users have accepted having all their photos backed up onto the cloud, whether during their phone set-up or later, and then forgotten about it,” explains Chen. “When the photo is sent to the cloud, it is generally encrypted in some way so the cloud provider can’t see what the contents are. The issue is that cloud back-ups can be accessed with an email and password, and those are often not as secure as people think.”

Check out this guide to making sure your phone isn’t automatically backing up into the cloud, if this is a precaution you’d like to take. Note that a risk with not uploading your photos to iCloud is that they’ll need to be backed up elsewhere or else you’ll lose your photos altogether if something were to happen to your phone.

Related: “I Didn’t Know If They’d Kill Me”: What Happened When This Jane Doe was Trafficked by GirlsDoPorn

Another thing you can do is check out the new site “Am I In Porn?” Created by a German AI company called deepXtech UG, “Am I In Porn?” is a search engine that exists to help you find out if you appear on porn sites.

What is “Am I In Porn?” and how does it work?

Because victims cannot know if there is “parasite porn” or revenge porn of themselves on the internet until they or someone they know stumbles upon it, it is intended for any person who wants to check that no pornographic content of themselves is distributed on various porn platforms without having to visit those platforms themselves. These can be any number of people including, but not limited to, those who have passed on content to third parties or those who fear that pornographic material has been created and distributed without their knowledge (e.g. by DeepFake technology).

“Am I In Porn?” allows users who are over the age of 18 to match their face with millions of videos and find out within seconds if people in the videos they searched are similar. All you have to do is upload a picture of yourself (which will never be saved) and check the results. The photo only needs to show your face clearly, and the site will only show you the videos that have the highest probability of a match.

How does it make these matches?

Related: MindGeek, Pornhub’s Parent Company, Sued for Reportedly Hosting Videos of Child Sex Trafficking

The simple answer is mathematics. According to the site, every face has a unique arrangement of features, such as eyes, nose, mouth, etc., which have a certain distance between them. Mathematically speaking, these distances and arrangements are things called “vectors.” The site then built a database with millions of vectors, which they extracted from millions of porn videos. As soon as you upload an image, they extract the vectors and match them with their database. The more similar the arrangement of the vectors, the higher the probability that the face is the same.

If and when you find a match, “Am I In Porn?” will provide you with step-by-step instructions on how to quickly and easily report and remove the video on the appropriate platform.

Currently, the site charges a small fee (through PayPal or a SEPA direct debit mandate) for each search to cover their costs and is only available in European Union countries. They are working to change both of those things because they believe “things that make the world a better place should be free” and available to all.

Is nonconsensual porn even allowed?

On its face, the law strongly prohibits nonconsensual porn. However, a number of loopholes exist that make it extremely difficult to hold those sharing the illicit imagery responsible. Click here to learn more about how porn sites profit from nonconsensual imagery.

Survivors of nonconsensual image sharing face many disruptive mental health issues that affect their daily lives. And, although they haven’t faced literal sexual assault, in some cases, there are striking similarities between the mental health effects of sexual assault and nonconsensual video creation for survivors.

Related: Their Private Videos Were Nonconsensually Uploaded to Pornhub, and Now These Women are Fighting Back

Porn sites don’t care about your mental health. They don’t care whether or not you were raped. All that matters is money, and how they can profit from content—even if that content displays someone’s real suffering.

So, how many more must be exploited until society recognizes the harms of porn and the porn industry?

This is one of the many reasons we raise awareness on the harms of porn, because many porn sites profit from the creation and distribution of nonconsensual content.

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Real Rape Videos Reportedly Continually on World’s Most Popular Porn Site

XVideos reportedly receives over 3.3 billion site visits per month. The site also reportedly hosts non-consensual content like real rape and abuse videos.

AUGUST 8, 2022

XVideos, the world’s most popular porn sites, reportedly receives over 3.3 billion site visits per month.

The site also reportedly still hosts real rape tapes and abuse videos, according to a recent report by a German media company.

This isn’t the first time XVideos has been reviewed and called out for illegal and illicit content—this scathing review was just published due to the countless sexually violent videos on its website.

The review came from Netzpolitik.org, a Berlin-based media company whose mission is to increase internet digital freedom and openness.

Related: XVideos, World’s Most Popular Porn Site, Reportedly Hosts Nonconsensual Content & Child Exploitation

The report showed that XVideos has taken steps to combat toxic content, such as banning the term “rape,” but that a number of videos still exist on the site that are extremely abusive and problematic.

Netzpolitik was able to find videos where people do not seem to be “fully conscious but are apparently being abused for sexual acts,” while other videos are of people who “don’t seem to know they’re being filmed, for example on the toilet.”

Moreover, slight changes to spelling and wording can still reportedly provide access to videos that should be banned under rape searches. For example, the site has content categories, like “against her will” or “unconscious and f—ed,” and instead of typing “rape,” closely-related but alternate search terms provide over 400,000 results.

It’s no wonder that Chris Köver, editor at Netzpolitik, said that “XVideos could certainly do more to prevent distribution of these recordings.”

Is XVideos moderating its content?

XVideos reportedly pays a bunch of people to stop toxic content from ever being uploaded to the site or to get rid of it the moment it’s found. Also, as we mentioned earlier, the porn site has stopped uploaders from using certain tags that hint at sexual abuse and violence.

However, it’s not difficult to get around such tags and it’s nearly impossible for the moderators to catch everything that’s uploaded given XVideos is the 7th-most visited website in the world, and the first most-popular porn site.

Related: By the Numbers: Is the Porn Industry Connected to Sex Trafficking?

While XVideos does have an online form that can be filled out anonymously to flag videos to moderators (Netzpolitik‘s review noted 25 of the 30 videos it flagged were removed within a day), it’s still not enough.

Why? Because this kind of system puts the burden on people to report the things they see. It forces abuse victims, for example, to be re-victimized by searching for and seeing their violation broadcast to the world.

Related: How Porn Portrays Violence As a Sexual Fantasy

In other words, unless moderators or an occasional external reviewer finds it among all the toxic content being uploaded on a minute-by-minute basis, it’s not all going to be reported.

That’s a problem because it opens the door for victims of all types to be traumatized again and again rather than preventing the disturbing content from being shared and consumed for “entertainment” in the first place.

What happens when victims are traumatized by sexual content shared against their will?

Take the tragic story of a 16-year-old girl from Perth, Australia recounted by journalist Nicholas Kristof in an investigative op-ed for The New York Times.

The teen Snapchatted a nude photo of herself to her then-boyfriend with a message, “I love you. I trust you.” Without consent, the boyfriend immediately screenshot the snap and shared it with five of his friends, who then shared it with 47 other friends.

Before long, over 200 students at the teen’s school had seen the image with one person uploading it to a porn site with her name and school.

Related: 20 Stats About the Porn Industry and its Underage Consumers

The teen stopped attending school and self-medicated with drugs. Her family moved to a different city and then a different state, but she felt she could not escape. At 21 years old, she died by suicide.

Sadly, this story is an all too common one. People’s lives are turned upside-down: some are forced to change their names, looks, and move. Others face mental health crises. And others still face all of these ramifications and more.

What if the content isn’t real sexual abuse imagery?

Most people would probably agree that if something was uploaded without consent, it should be taken down, but what about the content that is simply staged and scripted as if one person is being sexually abused?

For example, many of the links Google returns for a search term like “schoolgirl” will likely be of porn performers who are play acting child abuse, but this blend of professional videos mixed with non-consensual and abusive content is problematic for a few reasons:

  1. This content makes it even more challenging for consumers to tell the difference between the real and staged videos of abuse.
  2. These videos sexualize and fetishize real abuse scenarios that can ultimately influence their sexual tastes.1

Related: How Can You Know for Sure if the Porn You Watch is Consensual?

Even if the video isn’t technically “real rape,” it normalizes the abuse that many do face and creates demand for more exploitative, violent content.

Exploitation, rape, sexual assault, and sex abuse are not sexual entertainment.

Why this matters

There are videos that exist that don’t contain real or acted sexual abuse material, but it seems as though violence-free content is becoming more rare in the mainstream porn world.

One study analyzing the acts portrayed in porn videos suggests that as little as 35.0% and as much as 88.2% of popular porn scenes contain violence or aggression, and that women are the targets of violence approximately 97% of the time.23

Related: Man Sets Up Fake “Sleep Study” To Rape 100 Women And Film It

Another study found the most common form of sexual violence shown was between family members, and frequent terms used to describe the videos included “abuse,” “annihilation,” and “attack.” The researchers concluded by saying that these sites are “likely hosting” unlawful material.4

And the few videos that exist that don’t fall under the categories we’ve mentioned earlier still have their own host of negative effects on viewers ranging from decreased enjoyment in sex, decreased empathy, lowered self-esteem and more.

At the end of the day, porn is just not worth it. Protect yourself and protect others by refusing to click.

Citations

1Downing, M. J., Jr, Schrimshaw, E. W., Scheinmann, R., Antebi-Gruszka, N., & Hirshfield, S. (2017). Sexually Explicit Media Use by Sexual Identity: A Comparative Analysis of Gay, Bisexual, and Heterosexual Men in the United States. Archives of sexual behavior, 46(6), 1763–1776. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-016-0837-9

2Bridges, A. J., Wosnitzer, R., Scharrer, E., Sun, C., & Liberman, R. (2010). Aggression and sexual behavior in best-selling pornography videos: a content analysis update. Violence against women, 16(10), 1065–1085. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801210382866

3Fritz, N., Malic, V., Paul, B., & Zhou, Y. (2020). A descriptive analysis of the types, targets, and relative frequency of aggression in mainstream pornography. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 49(8), 3041-3053. doi:10.1007/s10508-020-01773-0

4Vera-Gray, F., McGlynn, C., Kureshi, I., & Butterby, K. (2021). Sexual violence as a sexual script in mainstream online pornography. The British Journal of Criminology, doi:10.1093/bjc/azab035

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Recovering from Rape and Sexual Trauma

Recovering from Rape and Sexual Trauma

Recovering from sexual assault takes time, and the healing process can be painful. But you can regain your sense of control, rebuild your self-worth, and learn to heal.

The aftermath of rape and sexual trauma

Sexual violence is shockingly common in our society. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), nearly 1 in 5 women in the U.S. are raped or sexually assaulted at some point in their lives, often by someone they know and trust. In some Asian, African, and Middle Eastern countries, that figure is even higher. And sexual assault isn’t limited to women; many men and boys suffer rape and sexual trauma each year.

Regardless of age or gender, the impact of sexual violence goes far beyond any physical injuries. The trauma of being raped or sexually assaulted can be shattering, leaving you feeling scared, ashamed, and alone or plagued by nightmares, flashbacks, and other unpleasant memories. The world doesn’t feel like a safe place anymore. You no longer trust others. You don’t even trust yourself. You may question your judgment, your self-worth, and even your sanity. You may blame yourself for what happened or believe that you’re “dirty” or “damaged goods.” Relationships feel dangerous, intimacy impossible. And on top of that, like many rape survivors, you may struggle with PTSDanxiety, and depression.

It’s important to remember that what you’re experiencing is a normal reaction to trauma. Your feelings of helplessness, shame, defectiveness, and self-blame are symptoms, not reality. No matter how difficult it may seem, with these tips and techniques, you can come to terms with what happened, regain your sense of safety and trust, and learn to heal and move on with your life.

Myths and facts about rape and sexual assault

Dispelling the toxic, victim-blaming myths about sexual violence can help you start the healing process.

Myths and facts about rape and sexual assault
Myth: You can spot a rapist by the way he looks or acts.

 

Fact: There’s no surefire way to identify a rapist. Many appear completely normal, friendly, charming, and non-threatening.

Myth: If you didn’t fight back, you must not have thought it was that bad.

 

Fact: During a sexual assault, it’s extremely common to freeze. Your brain and body shuts down in shock, making it difficult to move, speak, or think.

Myth: People who are raped “ask for it” by the way they dress or act.

 

Fact: Rape is a crime of opportunity. Studies show that rapists choose victims based on their vulnerability, not on how sexy they appear or how flirtatious they are.

Myth: Date rape is often a misunderstanding.

 

Fact: Date rapists often defend themselves by claiming the assault was a drunken mistake or miscommunication. But research shows that the vast majority of date rapists are repeat offenders. These men target vulnerable people and often ply them with alcohol in order to rape them.

Myth: It’s not rape if you’ve had sex with the person before.

 

Fact: Just because you’ve previously consented to sex with someone doesn’t give them perpetual rights to your body. If your spouse, boyfriend, or lover forces sex against your will, it’s rape.

Recovering from rape or sexual trauma step 1: Open up about what happened to you

It can be extraordinarily difficult to admit that you were raped or sexually assaulted. There’s a stigma attached. It can make you feel dirty and weak. You may also be afraid of how others will react. Will they judge you? Look at you differently? It seems easier to downplay what happened or keep it a secret. But when you stay silent, you deny yourself help and reinforce your victimhood.

Reach out to someone you trust. It’s common to think that if you don’t talk about your rape, it didn’t really happen. But you can’t heal when you’re avoiding the truth. And hiding only adds to feelings of shame. As scary as it is to open up, it will set you free. However, it’s important to be selective about who you tell, especially at first. Your best bet is someone who will be supportive, empathetic, and calm. If you don’t have someone you trust, talk to a therapist or call a rape crisis hotline.

Challenge your sense of helplessness and isolation. Trauma leaves you feeling powerless and vulnerable. It’s important to remind yourself that you have strengths and coping skills that can get you through tough times. One of the best ways to reclaim your sense of power is by helping others: volunteer your time, give blood, reach out to a friend in need, or donate to your favorite charity.

Consider joining a support group for other rape or sexual abuse survivors. Support groups can help you feel less isolated and alone. They also provide invaluable information on how to cope with symptoms and work towards recovery. If you can’t find a support group in your area, look for an online group.

Step 2: Cope with feelings of guilt and shame

Even if you intellectually understand that you’re not to blame for the rape or sexual attack, you may still struggle with a sense of guilt or shame. These feelings can surface immediately following the assault or arise years after the attack. But as you acknowledge the truth of what happened, it will be easier to fully accept that you are not responsible. You did not bring the assault on yourself and you have nothing to be ashamed about.

Feelings of guilt and shame often stem from misconceptions such as:

You didn’t stop the assault from happening. After the fact, it’s easy to second guess what you did or didn’t do. But when you’re in the midst of an assault, your brain and body are in shock. You can’t think clearly. Many people say they feel “frozen.” Don’t judge yourself for this natural reaction to trauma. You did the best you could under extreme circumstances. If you could have stopped the assault, you would have.

You trusted someone you “shouldn’t” have. One of the most difficult things to deal with following an assault by someone you know is the violation of trust. It’s natural to start questioning yourself and wondering if you missed warning signs. Just remember that your attacker is the only one to blame. Don’t beat yourself up for assuming that your attacker was a decent human being. Your attacker is the one who should feel guilty and ashamed, not you.

You were drunk or not cautious enough. Regardless of the circumstances, the only one who is responsible for the assault is the perpetrator. You did not ask for it or deserve what happened to you. Assign responsibility where it belongs: on the rapist.

Step 3: Prepare for flashbacks and upsetting memories

When you go through something stressful, your body temporarily goes into “fight-or-flight” mode. When the threat has passed, your body calms down. But traumatic experiences such as rape can cause your nervous system to become stuck in a state of high alert. You’re hypersensitive to the smallest of stimuli. This is the case for many rape survivors.

Flashbacks, nightmares, and intrusive memories are extremely common, especially in the first few months following the assault. If your nervous system remains “stuck” in the long-term and you develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), they can last much longer.

To reduce the stress of flashbacks and upsetting memories:

Try to anticipate and prepare for triggers. Common triggers include anniversary dates; people or places associated with the rape; and certain sights, sounds, or smells. If you are aware of what triggers may cause an upsetting reaction, you’ll be in a better position to understand what’s happening and take steps to calm down.

Pay attention to your body’s danger signals. Your body and emotions give you clues when you’re starting to feel stressed and unsafe. These clues include feeling tense, holding your breath, racing thoughts, shortness of breath, hot flashes, dizziness, and nausea.

Take immediate steps to self-soothe. When you notice any of the above symptoms, it’s important to quickly act to calm yourself down before they spiral out of control. One of the quickest and most effective ways to calm anxiety and panic is to slow down your breathing.

Soothe panic with this simple breathing exercise

  • Sit or stand comfortably with your back straight. Put one hand on your chest and the other on your stomach.
  • Take a slow breath in through your nose, counting to four. The hand on your stomach should rise. The hand on your chest should move very little.
  • Hold your breath for a count of seven.
  • Exhale through your mouth to a count of eight, pushing out as much air as you can while contracting your abdominal muscles. The hand on your stomach should move in as you exhale, but your other hand should move very little.
  • Inhale again, repeating the cycle until you feel relaxed and centered.

Tips for dealing with flashbacks

It’s not always possible to prevent flashbacks. But if you find yourself losing touch with the present and feeling like the sexual assault is happening all over again, there are actions you can take.

Accept and reassure yourself that this is a flashback, not reality. The traumatic event is over and you survived. Here’s a simple script that can help: “I am feeling [panicked, frightened, overwhelmed, etc.] because I am remembering the rape/sexual assault, but as I look around I can see that the assault isn’t happening right now and I’m not actually in danger.”

Ground yourself in the present. Grounding techniques can help you direct your attention away from the flashback and back to your present environment. For example, try tapping or touching your arms or describing your actual environment and what you see when you look around—name the place where you are, the current date, and three things you see when you look around.

Step 4: Reconnect to your body and feelings

Since your nervous system is in a hypersensitive state following a rape or assault, you may start trying to numb yourself or avoid any associations with the trauma. But you can’t selectively numb your feelings. When you shut down the unpleasant sensations, you also shut down your self-awareness and capacity for joy. You end up disconnected both emotionally and physically—existing, but not fully living.

Signs that you’re avoiding and numbing in unhelpful ways:

Feeling physically shut down. You don’t feel bodily sensations like you used to (you might even have trouble differentiating between pleasure and pain).

Feeling separate from your body or surroundings (you may feel like you’re watching yourself or the situation you’re in, rather than participating in it).

Having trouble concentrating and remembering things.

Using stimulants, risky activities, or physical pain to feel alive and counteract the empty feeling inside of you.

Compulsively using drugs or alcohol.

Escaping through fantasies, daydreams, or excessive TV, video games, etc.

Feeling detached from the world, the people in your life, and the activities you used to enjoy.

To recover after rape, you need to reconnect to your body and feelings

It’s frightening to get back in touch with your body and feelings following a sexual trauma. In many ways, rape makes your body the enemy, something that’s been violated and contaminated—something you may hate or want to ignore. It’s also scary to face the intense feelings associated with the assault. But while the process of reconnecting may feel threatening, it’s not actually dangerous. Feelings, while powerful, are not reality. They won’t hurt you or drive you insane. The true danger to your physical and mental health comes from avoiding them.

Once you’re back in touch with your body and feelings, you will feel more safe, confident, and powerful. You can achieve this through the following techniques:

Rhythmic movement. Rhythm can be very healing. It helps us relax and regain a sense of control over our bodies. Anything that combines rhythm and movement will work: dancing, drumming, marching. You can even incorporate it into your walking or running routine by concentrating on the back and forth movements of your arms and legs.

Mindfulness meditation. You can practice mindfulness meditation anywhere, even while you are walking or eating. Simply focus on what you’re feeling in the present movement—including any bodily sensations and emotions. The goal is to observe without judgement.

Yoga, Tai Chi, and Qigong. These activities combine body awareness with relaxing, focused movement and can help relieve symptoms of PTSD and trauma.

Massage. After rape, you may feel uncomfortable with human touch. But touching and being touched is an important way we give and receive affection and comfort. You can begin to reopen yourself to human contact through massage therapy.

A powerful program for reconnecting to your feelings and physical sensations

HelpGuide’s free Emotional Intelligence Toolkit can help you recover after rape by reconnecting you to uncomfortable or frightening emotions without becoming overwhelmed. You can use the toolkit in conjunction with therapy, or on its own. Over time, it can make a huge difference in your ability to manage stress, balance your moods and emotions, and take back control of your life.

Step 5: Stay connected

It’s common to feel isolated and disconnected from others following a sexual assault. You may feel tempted to withdraw from social activities and your loved ones. But it’s important to stay connected to life and the people who care about you. Support from other people is vital to your recovery. But remember that support doesn’t mean that you always have to talk about or dwell on what happened. Having fun and laughing with people who care about you can be equally healing.

Participate in social activities, even if you don’t feel like it. Do “normal” things with other people, things that have nothing to do with the sexual trauma.

Reconnect with old friends. If you’ve retreated from relationships that were once important to you, make the effort to reconnect.

Make new friends. If you live alone or far from family and friends, try to reach out and make new friends. Take a class or join a club to meet people with similar interests, connect to an alumni association, or reach out to neighbors or work colleagues.

Step 6: Nurture yourself

Healing from sexual trauma is a gradual, ongoing process. It doesn’t happen overnight, nor do the memories of the trauma ever disappear completely. This can make life seem difficult at times. But there are many steps you can take to cope with the residual symptoms and reduce your anxiety and fear.

Take time to rest and restore your body’s balance. That means taking a break when you’re tired and avoiding the temptation to lose yourself by throwing yourself into activities. Avoid doing anything compulsively, including working. If you’re having trouble relaxing and letting down your guard, you may benefit from relaxation techniques such as meditation and yoga.

Be smart about media consumption. Avoid watching any program that could trigger bad memories or flashbacks. This includes obvious things such as news reports about sexual violence and sexually explicit TV shows and movies. But you may also want to temporarily avoid anything that’s over-stimulating, including social media.

Take care of yourself physically. It’s always important to eat rightexercise regularly, and get plenty of sleep—but even more so when you’re healing from trauma. Exercise in particular can soothe your traumatized nervous system, relieve stress, and help you feel more powerful and in control of your body.

Avoid alcohol and drugs. Avoid the temptation to self-medicate with alcohol or drugs. Substance use worsens many symptoms of trauma, including emotional numbing, social isolation, anger, and depression. It also interferes with treatment and can contribute to problems at home and in your relationships.

How to help someone recover from rape or sexual trauma

When a spouse, partner, sibling, or other loved one has been raped or sexually assaulted, it can generate painful emotions and take a heavy toll on your relationship. You may feel angry and frustrated, be desperate for your relationship to return to how it was before the assault, or even want to retaliate against your loved one’s attacker. But it’s your patience, understanding, and support that your loved one needs now, not more displays of aggression or violence.

Let your loved one know that you still love them and reassure them that the assault was not their fault. Nothing they did or didn’t do could make them culpable in any way.

Allow your loved one to open up at their own pace. Some victims of sexual assault find it very difficult to talk about what happened, others may need to talk about the assault over and over again. This can make you feel alternately frustrated or uncomfortable. But don’t try to force your loved one to open up or urge them to stop rehashing the past. Instead, let them know that you’re there to listen whenever they want to talk. If hearing about your loved one’s assault brings you discomfort, talking to another person can help put things in perspective.

Encourage your loved one to seek help, but don’t pressurize. Following the trauma of a rape or sexual assault, many people feel totally disempowered. You can help your loved one to regain a sense of control by not pushing or cajoling. Encourage them to reach out for help, but let them make the final decision. Take cues from your loved one as to how you can best provide support.

Show empathy and caution about physical intimacy. It’s common for someone who’s been sexually assaulted to shy away from physical touch, but at the same time it’s important they don’t feel those closest to them are emotionally withdrawing or that they’ve somehow been “tarnished” by the attack. As well as expressing affection verbally, seek permission to hold or touch your loved one. In the case of a spouse or sexual partner, understand that your loved one will likely need time to regain a sense of control over their life and body before desiring sexual intimacy.

Take care of yourself. The more calm, relaxed, and focused you are, the better you’ll be able to help your loved one. Manage your own stress and reach out to others for support.

Be patient. Healing from the trauma of rape or sexual assault takes time. Flashbacks, nightmares, debilitating fear, and other symptom of PTSD can persist long after any physical injuries have healed. To learn more, read Helping Someone with PTSD.

 

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Complex PTSD (CPTSD) in Teen Girls after Sexual Assault: Diagnosis and Treatment

Complex PTSD (CPTSD) in Teen Girls after Sexual Assault: Diagnosis and Treatment

Sexual Assault Can Affect Victims for Decades: What Type of Treatment Can Help?

Sexual assault is a crime that affects millions of people in the U.S.

The emotional and psychological consequences of sexual assault can cause severe, lifelong impairment. We’ll discuss these consequences and the details of the impairments below, but it’s important, first, for all members of the general public to understand that sexual assault can affect typical physical, psychological, and emotional development, degrade relationships, reduce cognitive function, and have a negative impact on academic performance, employment, decision-making, self-esteem, social functioning, and overall wellbeing.

We identify the event that leads to this broad host of impairments in the title of this article: sexual assault. The mental health disorder that develops as a result of sexual assault is called post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In cases of sexual assault, many victims develop a variation of PTSD called complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD), which was defined and added to the International Classification of Diseases, 11th Revision (ICD-11), by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2019, and came into effect for use by clinicians in January, 2022.

There’s another thing all members of the general public should understand about sexual assault before we offer clinical definitions, prevalence statistics, and additional data:

Adolescent girls have a higher risk of sexual assault than any other demographic group.

That’s why we write articles like this one. We work with adolescents every day of the year, and we see the consequences of sexual assault in adolescent girls with alarming frequency. We accept girls into our programs for depression, anxiety, behavioral issues, alcohol and drug addiction, and other mental health disorders. While every girl we meet does not have a history of sexual assault, the correlation between girls with mental health issues with severe impairment and girls who are victims of sexual assault is shocking: our goal is to inform anyone reading this article about how we – and they – can help girls who experience this crime recover and rebuild their lives in the face of extreme, painful, and recurring emotional consequences.

[NOTE: We understand sexual assault happens to boys and men, too. However, due to the overwhelmingly disproportionate prevalence of sexual assault among women, and teen girls in particular, we’ll use this time to focus on them.]

First, we’ll define sexual assault, share prevalence statistics, outline the devastating effects these conditions have on adolescent girls, then address PTSD and CPTSD in detail. We’ll talk about evidence-based treatments for PTSD and CPTSD in the last section of this article.

What is Sexual Assault?

The Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAINN) defines sexual assault as “sexual contact or behavior that occurs without explicit consent of the victim.” They identify several types of sexual assault:

  • Rape, i.e. forcible penetration of the victim’s body
  • Unwanted fondling or sexual touching
  • Forcing a victim to engage in sexual acts
  • Forced sexual acts include:
    • Being forced to give or receive oral sex
    • Being forced to penetrate the perpetrator’s body

Now let’s look at the latest statistics on the prevalence of sexual assault in the U.S. We’ll preface this with a figure from a study from 1998, which indicated that at that time, an estimated 17.7 million women had been victims of rape or attempted rape.

Women and Sexual Assault in the U.S.

  • 1 out of every 6 women report sexual assault in their lifetime
  • 66% of victims of sexual assault or rape are 12-17 years old
  • 34% of victims of sexual assault or rape are under age 12
  • 82% of victims of sexual assault under the age of 18 are female
  • Teen girls age 16-19 are 4 times more likely than the general population to experience rape, attempted rape, or sexual assault

We’ll add another general fact to this series of statistics:

In the U.S., on average, a sexual assault occurs every 68 seconds.

Now let’s look at where sexual assault happens and what victims were doing at the time of the assault.

Sexual Assault: Where Were the Victims and What Were They Doing?

  • Where they were:
    • 55% were at home or near home
    • 15% were in the open in a public place
    • 12% were at or near a relative’s home
    • 10% were in an enclosed space such as a parking garage
    • 8% were on school property
  • What they were doing:
    • 48% were sleeping or doing something else at home
    • 29% were out doing errands or going to work or school
    • 12% were working
    • 7% were at school
    • 5% were engaged in unidentified activities

We include these last two bullet lists to drive home a critical point and further dispel an old trope that persist to this day: in almost every case of rape or assault, female victims are not at a nightclub dressed in a miniskirt and tight top. In almost every case of rape or sexual assault, the victim is going about their life, minding their own business, and they become the victim of a crime. In other words, the perpetrator is responsible for the crime, not the victim.

Next, we’ll discuss the consequences of sexual assault.

The Long-Term Emotional Effects of Sexual Assault

As we discuss the long-term consequences of sexual assault and the impact it has on teen girls, let’s not forget the horror of the initial act: while every woman or girl has to deal with the fallout of the experience, it’s important to remember that the incident itself is most often terrifying, violent, and often sends victims into a state of emotional and physical shock.

With that said, let’s consider this next set of facts from tj Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAINN).

Sexual Assault, Women, and Teen Girls: Long-Term Effects

PTSD, Suicide, and Emotional Distress

  • 94% of female rape victims experience symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) within two weeks of the rape
  • 30% of female rape victims report symptoms of PTSD persist for at least 9 months after the assault
  • 33% of female rape victims report thinking about suicide.
  • 13% of female rape victims attempt suicide.
  • 70% of rape/sexual assault victims experience moderate to severe distress

Work, School, and Relationships

  • 38% of rape victims report school problems
  • 37% report problems with family and friends
  • 84% of victims of rape by an intimate partner report:
    • Professional issues
    • Moderate to severe emotional distress
    • Increased problem at school
    • Increased problems at work
  • 79% of victims of rape by a family member, friend, or acquaintance report:
    • Professional issues
    • Moderate to severe emotional distress
    • Increased problem at school
    • Increased problems at work
  • 67% of victims of rape by a stranger report:
    • Professional issues
    • Moderate to severe emotional distress
    • Increased problem at school
    • Increased problems at work

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Victims of rape/sexual assault are more likely to use drugs than people who are not victims of rape/sexual assault. Compared to non-victims, they are:
    • 10 times more likely to use any type of drug
    • 6 times more likely to use cocaine
    • 4 times more likely to use marijuana

When we list the long-term consequences of sexual assault, what we really describe are the symptoms of PTSD and CPTSD. As you’ll see in the next section, the psychological, emotional, and social impairments/consequences associated with rape/sexual assault are virtually synonymous with PTSD/CPTSD symptoms.

PTSD and CPTSD: Clinical Definitions

An article called “Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms In Female Adolescents: The Role Of Emotion Dysregulation In Impairment And Trauma Exposure After An Acute Sexual Assault” published in 2020 addresses the issues central to this article. In the words of the study authors:

“This study aims to determine the frequency and structure of CPTSD, and the relationship of emotion dysregulation with impairment and additional trauma exposure among adolescents who have been sexually assaulted.”

The first thing the study authors do is recognize that sexual assault and rape are severely traumatic events that can disrupt self-organizational capacity and result in the appearance and experience of the core symptoms of PTSD, which include:

  • Re-experiencing traumatic memories
  • Cognitive avoidance of traumatic reminders
  • Behavioral avoidance of traumatic reminders
  • Persistent sense of threat, in the absence of actual threat

The second thing the study authors do is define the new diagnosis from the ICD-11 – which we discuss above – known as complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD). When the following three sets of symptoms appear in an individual when no trauma-related cues are present, they meet clinical criteria for CPTSD.

CPTSD: Symptom Profile

  1. Emotion dysregulation:
    • Heightened emotional reactivity
    • Under controlled anger
    • Irritability
    • Temper outbursts
  2. Negative self-concept
    • Beliefs about oneself as diminished
    • Defeated
    • Worthless
  3. Interpersonal problems
    • Persistent preoccupation or avoidance of social engagement
    • Difficulties in sustaining and managing relationships

As we mention above, those symptoms match the post-assault experience of a vast majority of victims or rape or sexual assault. Researchers concluded that CPTSD is a disorder that predominantly applies to victims of rape, but may also appear in victims of torture, prisoners of war, victims of childhood abuse, and/or victims of kidnapping, slavery, or forced prostitution.

It’s clear: CPTSD occurs in response to the most extreme forms of trauma we know about. Now let’s take a look at the results of the study.

Study Results: Prevalence of CPTSD in Teen Female Rape Victims

To measure the prevalence of CPTSD among teen female victims of sexual assault and/or rape, researchers recruited a total of 134 participants. Here’s the make-up of the study group:

  • All female rape/assault victims
  • Average age of 15.6 years old
  • 51% had received some type of psychiatric help before the study
  • 32% reported more than on rape/sexual assault
  • 92% of victims reported forced penetration
  • 63% were raped by a person they knew

At two time points – one immediately after the assault and one four months after the assault – researchers gathered data on the following three metrics:

  1. Presence of CPTSD
  2. Further exposure to trauma
  3. Level of impairment

Here’s what they found:

  • Complex PTSD diagnosis:
    • 59% met criteria for PTSD
    • 40% met criteria for CPTSD
  • Further exposure to trauma:
    • After four months:
      • 29% reported additional trauma
      • 9% reported additional sexual trauma
    • Impairment
      • 60% reported at least one symptom of self-organization in each of the three domains:
        • 87% emotion dysregulation
        • 75% negative self-concept
        • 75% interpersonal problems

With this data, the study authors confirm their hypothesis: the set of symptoms reported by teen female victims of sexual assault corresponds with both PTSD and CPTSD. In addition, the study authors indicate that:

“Emotion dysregulation was significantly associated with further exposure to general and to sexual trauma above and beyond core PTSD symptoms, negative self-concept and interpersonal problems.”

What that means is that the trauma of rape, particularly when compounded by additional sexual or general trauma, can exacerbate the symptoms of PTSD and meet the threshold for CPTSD. That information is important both for the families of the victims and the therapists who treat them: it can help families find the appropriate treatment team, and enable that treatment team to use therapeutic techniques proven to help people with PTSD and CPTSD.

That brings us to our final topic: what treatments are effective for PTSD and CPTSD?

Evidence-Based Support for Teen Female Rape Victims

In a paper published in August 2020 called “Systematic Review: Effectiveness Of Psychosocial Interventions On Wellbeing Outcomes For Adolescent Or Adult Victim/Survivors Of Recent Rape Or Sexual Assault,” researcher conducted a thorough review of the current best therapeutic practices for victims of rape or sexual assault.

In total, they found ten studies that analyzed the effectiveness of a wide range of therapeutic interventions. We’ll pull no punches here: the study authors were neither impressed with the strength of the evidence nor the design of the studies they reviewed. Despite spending significant time discussing the relative weaknesses of the studies, they did identify the following treatment interventions that improved symptoms in female rape victims:

  • Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)
  • Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR)
  • Cognitive processing therapy (CPT)
  • Prolonged exposure therapy (PE)
  • Systematic Desensitization (SD)
  • Brief psychoeducation (PEI)
  • Psychological support (PS)

It’s important to note that in the context of this study, all of these interventions occurred in conjunction with CBT. Therefore, the study authors consider them all to CBT-based interventions, and determined they were effective in reducing the following symptoms:

  • General PTSD symptoms, including:
    • Avoiding memories
    • Avoiding triggers for memories
    • Constant sense of threat
  • Depression
  • Fear of subsequent rape/sexual assault
  • Sexual function

We’ll address that last bullet point, since it’s something we haven’t mentioned. In many cases, victims of rape or sexual assault experience impaired sexual function, which can manifest in various ways. This study indicates that all of the CBT-based interventions listed above can help reduce symptoms related to this phenomenon.

The Bottom Line: Treatment for Complex PTSD Can Help Reduce Symptoms

Adolescent girls who experience rape or sexual assault can develop PTSD or CPTSD, two mental health disorders that can cause severe, lifelong impairment. As we mention above, the symptoms of PTSD and CPTSD can disrupt almost all areas of life, including family, peer, and romantic relationships, academic achievement, work performance, psychological and emotional health, and overall wellbeing. The disruption can be moderate to severe, with severe impairment limiting function in all practical domains. In addition, anxiety, depression, and alcohol/drug use may also accompany the symptoms of rape-related PTSD or CPTSD.

Evidence in the second study we cite above shows that CBT-based interventions are effective in reducing symptom severity. The most effective approaches included:

  • B-CPT: Brief cognitive processing therapy
  • Prolonged exposure therapy (PE)
  • Brief psychoeducation (PEI)

Researchers indicate that multi-session treatments in these modalities that take place over time show the most success in symptom reduction. For families with teenage girls who have experienced rape or sexual assault, that’s valuable information. These girls are at risk of lifelong disruption, but with appropriate treatment and support, they can learn to manage the symptoms related to their experience, and live in the manner of their choosing, rather than a life dictated by the result of one – or several – traumatic experiences during adolescence.

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Adult Film Industry and Human Rights Violations

Adult Film Industry and Human Rights Violations

There have been numerous reports of human rights abuse in the adult film industry. The
inappropriate and rash themes such as ‘bondage’ and ‘sex slaves’ shown in the adult-movies
have affected the lives of its actors and its viewers. Women are portrayed as enjoying forced-sex
and enjoying being whipped, choked and beaten which indirectly promotes and normalizes rape
culture. Various Human Rights treaties have conferred upon the mankind, various fundamental
rights, which are inalienable.

It is certain that the adult film industry has devastated its actors and has become a hub of trafficking. This article gets into the details of how the adult film industry has directly violated the human rights of its actors. The article further includes case laws and confessions from female porn actors who have acted in such movies. Other major issues i.e. child-pornography and human trafficking have also been dealt with.

By Jasmine Siddiqui, a 4th year student currently enrolled in B.A. LL.B (H) from Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi

Introduction

The adult film industry is considered as one of the biggest industries in the world. Porn is watched in almost every second house. It is a pre-conceived notion in our society that the industry is one that of leisure and fun. It appears to be all gold and glitter but the reality is far away from this.

The world of adult films is humiliating and the lives of its workers are dull and shady. The industry has portrayed ‘bondage’ as if it were right and common. The portraying of women as sex slaves and whipping them on their private parts are some of the main themes of pornographic videos. Many people love passionate sex but bondage and slave sex is not a form of passionate sex. It is sheer violence and inhumane behavior towards the porn performer and further promoting cruelty and torture among its viewers.

It is reported from time to time by various human rights organisations how women are forced to be part of the porn industry and are coerced to be slaves or servants of influential clients. The porn actors’ human rights are violated due to violent and humiliating pornographic acts which they are often forced to perform. Trafficking, child abuse, non-consensual sex and fake contracts are some of the other human rights violations.

Apart from the actors, the viewers are also highly affected by such content. They get exposed to such uncommon and unacceptable sexual behavior that they often desire to have same type of sex with their partners. They imitate the actors and start turning hostile towards their partners which results in increased sexual crimes/assault cases toward women.

Many porn websites purchase homemade porn videos and allow their upload on their portal. This tends to men capturing their intimating scenes with their partners, mostly with hidden cameras which they later sell in return for a good price from porn websites.

Trafficking In Adult Film Industry Is Unreported But Not Uncommon

The viewers of adult videos believe that the porn stars are performing in such videos by their will. They defend pornography by saying that if porn stars didn’t enjoy what they were doing then they would have quit the industry. This may not be the case every time. Trafficking and porn industry may seem unrelated but the reality is far opposite.

Article 3 of the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons Especially Women and Children defines Trafficking as, “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.”

Sex trafficking is a form of human trafficking which involves trafficking of women and children for the purpose of commercial sex or sexual exploitation. The term “commercial sex act” is defined as “any sex act on account of which anything of value is given to or received by any person.” [1] The term ‘sex trafficking’ is not particularly defined in the UN conventions but a Parliamentary Act of the United States defines it.

According to The Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA) sex trafficking is defined as “Recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, obtaining, patronizing, or soliciting of an individual through the means of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of commercial sex”.

Sex traffickers target victims through false promises. The adult film industry includes escort services, brothels, clubs and fake massage parlors. The International Labor Organization asserts that there are 4.8 million people trapped in forced sexual exploitation globally. According to a report by International Human Rights NGO based in Japan, there have been numerous cases in which Japanese women were coerced to appear in adult pornographic videos.

Very recently in 2016, young women were contracted to be models or actress but later they were forced to do pornographic videos. The porn companies make them sign the contract and later coerce them of penalty or other similar threats. They are forced to perform sex scenes and later their videos and pictures are circulated among adult cinemas and internet. The report further claims that many derogatory roles are assigned to the porn actress which includes the role of being a slave or debt bondage. In many cases, it has been revealed that young innocent actresses who are new to the industry gets duped by an agent under the pretence that she is assigned a simple role but in reality she is forced to do ‘rough sex.’

The Case Of United States V. Bagley 

In the American case of United States v. Bagley, a husband and his wife were accused of trafficking a minor. The victim ran away from a foster home at the age of 16 years and was taken into their home by a married couple. They treated the victim as their property and forced her to sign a contract to be their sex slave. She was made to forcefully dance at clubs. They not only beat her but also whipped, flogged, choked, caned, skewered, drowned, mutilated, hung and caged her. She was tattooed on her arm with a Chinese character for “slave.” She was electrocuted and suffered cardiac arrest for which she was hospitalized at the age of 23.

In yet another case of the Netherlands, four people were found guilty of kidnapping asylum seekers from North America and forcing them to take part in pornography. The victims were taped and recorded while forced to have sex with men and animals. One of the victims escaped and reported the local police. This depicts the hidden reality of organized human trafficking of women especially of women coming from vulnerable places.

Adult Film Industry Promotes Rape Culture & Sexual Exploitation

More and more porn stars are now coming up to speak about the terrifying reality of the adult film industry. Female porn stars have reported that they have to shoot films which contain brutal acts. One porn star was reported saying, “I agreed to do the scene, thinking it was less beating and only a punch in the head. He had worn his solid gold ring the entire time and continued to punch me with it. I actually stopped the scene while it was being filmed because I was in too much pain.” [4] Abuse and sexual violence are that common in the porn industry.

The adult film industry through its abusive and pervasive videos promotes gender stereotypes. Pornography changes the way the world sees women. There is nothing like love and affection in the porn videos and women are depicted as sexual objects with insatiable sexual desires who are always ready to please men. Pornography has made the outer body only criteria for judging women.

Women are expected to have perfect body figures just as the appealing body figures of the female porn stars. Porn websites contain male domination and female submission videos as if these are the expected roles. The viewers of ‘bondage’ and ‘rough sex’ porn videos often start lacking empathy for women. Their behavior towards women turns dominating and sexually imposing.

A study consisting of data from seven countries found that effects of pornography include increase in verbal and physical aggression. [5] Another study found that males aged 14 to 19 who viewed pornography have more often sexually harassed a female peer. [6] Many women have reported that their partners turn aggressive during sex and perform rough sex without even asking for the other partner’s consent. Though sex is a person’s choice and many couples enjoy unnatural sex; including oral and anal sex but this becomes a matter of fear and concern when the male partner starts enjoying to see her female partner in pain, crying and begging for his mercy. These brutal sexual acts leave women in fear. Choking, gagging, spitting are among some humilities usually done by their male partners.

The question is how and why young people find it alright to be abusive with their partners? The answer is ‘Porn’. Usually young children grow up watching porn. Sex-education is not common in most of the countries like India. The adult videos websites are flooded with submissive sex videos that it becomes the new normal for these young adolescents. It is an accepted fact that pornography has a higher impact on adolescents. They tend to believe that women are designated to be sexually exploited by men.

A report from November 2019 surveyed some British women which found that a third of them below the age of forty have been victims of choking, slapping, gagging or spitting during sex. 20% of these women said they were left frightened by the incidents. [7] Yet another study by Debby Herbenick who is a sex researcher found out that nearly a quarter of adult women in the US have reported unwanted choking during sex. [8]

Top 50 popular pornographic videos were analysed and it was found that 88% of scenes contained physical violence, 49% contained verbal aggression, 87% of aggressive acts were against women, and 95% were neutral expressions. [9]

Not only physical violence but verbal abuse has also become an intensive part of the adult film industry. Women are often called with names like “bitches”. They are portrayed and used as sexual objects. Such occurrences have affected the dignity of women in real life also. There is an increase in the performance of rough sex between real life couples where women are considered as mere sexual objects. These occurrences have direct correlation to the extreme violence and verbal abuse typified in pornography. [10]

There is a fine line between pleasure and pain but through these pornographic videos the porn websites are depicting that inflicting pain upon women is a pleasurable and fun activity; for both men and women. The BDSM category videos promote rape, sexual abuse, cruel and inhumane behavior. While shooting such videos, the porn stars go through highly painful experience. They are not even allowed to leave the shoot in between. This is nothing but rape. If we go by the definition of rape, penetration of penis or any other object into the sexual parts or mouth of a woman without her will and consent amounts to rape.

In a survey conducted, the interviewer did not even mention about pornography yet out of 193 cases of rape, 24% rapists mentioned that they were stimulated by pornographic materials including videos and writings. These rapists insisted that the victims enjoyed rape and extreme violence. [11] Another study by FBI researchers concluded that out of 36 serial killers 29 were attracted to violent and rough sex pornography which they tried to do with their female partners and ended up killing them. [12]

In March 2020, Pornhub was accused for profiting from rape and abusive videos. An online petition was circulated against Pornhub for facilitating sexual trafficking and for weak protection policies. In a reported incident, a couple’s intimating video was stolen from her mobile phone and later sold to Pornhub. She got trending in top five ‘soft porn’ videos category until it was removed after few days. [13] In yet another incident, a 15 year old girl was raped and her videos were later uploaded on Pornhub and other porn websites.

Porn sites are also accused of giving a platform to ‘revenge porn’. A revenge porn victim felt extremely embarrassed when she found out that her intimating videos with her ex-boyfriend had been uploaded on Pornhub which crossed 600,000 views. [14] This is how giant adult websites such as Pornhub and YouPorn are promoting non-consensual sex and are profiting from this.

The Case Of Adult Film Actress, Linda Lovelace

Linda Lovelace, a former porn actress revealed her experience in porn industry. Many books and movies have been written and filmed depicting her life story. Her autobiography titled ‘Ordeal’ reveals that she was forced into the porn industry. She shared that her first shoot in the adult industry included gang rape by five men. Her husband forced her into prostitution and private porn and he threatened to shoot her from his pistol if she did not cooperate. She wrote, “They treated me like a plastic doll. They were playing musical chairs with my body parts. I engaged in sex acts for pornography against my will and consent in order to save my life and my families’ lives.”

Child Pornography Flourishes In A World With No Borders

In legal language, a child is a person below the age of 18 years. In recent times, child pornography is on the rise due to easy accessibility on internet. In 1996, World Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children defined commercial sexual exploitation of children as “sexual abuse by the adult and remuneration in cash or kind to the child or a third person or persons.”

It includes prostitution of children, child pornography, and child sex tourism. Further, if a child enters into sexual activity in return of money, food, shelter or any other necessity then also it comes under the purview of commercial sexual exploitation. Cases where sexual abuse are not reported by the family members due to benefits derived by the family members from the perpetrator also amount to commercial sexual exploitation. The production, promotion and distribution of child pornography, child sex tourism and use of children in public or private sex shows are also within its ambit. This broad definition is acknowledged by the International Labor Organisation in its 2015 report.

According to the UN Special Report on the Sale of Children and Child Prostitution, it is estimated there are around three quarters of a million people on the internet searching for child pornography videos. The report also claimed that child pornography has now turned into a billion dollar business. More than one-third producers of child-pornography are the child’s family members and more than a third people who are guilty of possession of such pornography live with the children.

In a 2015 report by Pornhub, India holds third position in the list of most porn watching countries while USA and UK bagged the top positions respectively and Indian viewers are more interested in ‘teen porn’ [15] despite the fact that India has very strict laws against child pornography. According to the Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography, child pornography includes “any representation of a child engaged in real or simulated explicit sexual activities or of the sexual parts of a child for primarily sexual purposes.”

According to Section 67B of the information technology Act, child pornography is illegal and any person browsing for child pornography videos can be punished with five years of imprisonment along with a fine of Rs. 1 million. India has also accepted the Convention on the Rights of Child on 11th December, 1992. In 2012, The Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act, was enacted. Its aim was to protect the children from sexual assault, sexual harassment, pornography. Article 39(f) of the Indian Constitution provides for the State to secure children against exploitation.

The Optional Protocol to the (U.N.) Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography, The Council of European Convention on Cybercrime and The Council of European Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse are three effective International treaties to combat sexual exploitation and abuse of children. These three contain provisions for providing punishment to the perpetrators.

Pornography Affects The Dignity Of Women

Pornography violates porn actor’s human rights by affecting their dignity and constituting forced labor and trafficking. All human beings have equal and similar human rights. As per Article 1 of the UDHR, humans are born free and as per Article 1 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, the dignity of every human must be respected and protected. Not all, but many porn actors are humiliated and made to perform sexual acts without their consent. This is disrespect towards their dignity.

Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights gives every human the right to life, liberty and security of person. Article 5 of the UDHR and Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights state that “no one shall be subjected to torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”. It is evident from previously mentioned case studies, that the porn industry treats women in an inhumane way. They take advantage of poor and vulnerable minorities.

Article 4 of the UDHR and European Conventions on Human Rights prohibit slavery or servitude. Article 23(1) prohibits human trafficking. There are several conventions and treaties which the Nation-States sign in order to protect their citizens’s rights. Article 6 of the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women obliges the State parties to prevent trafficking and exploitation of women. The Convention for Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others, considers trafficking done for the purpose of prostitution as evil and incompatible for human dignity and welfare.

Pornography is illegal in India under sections 292 and 293 of Indian Penal Code. In India, Article 23 of the Constitution prohibits trafficking in human beings and forced labor in any form. The Immoral Trafficking Prevention Act penalizes trafficking for ‘commercial sexual exploitation’ with imprisonment of 7 years to life imprisonment. India is also a signatory to the Prevention of Suppression of Women and Children Convention.

Conclusion 

Every person has a right to choose a profession of his/her own choice. Prostitution and being porn stars does not make them less humans. They also do have equal and similar human rights as persons following other occupations. A porn star’s rights against forced sex are also a matter of human rights. The defense that the porn actors take up the work with consent is not a valid defense because ‘consent’ in the porn industry becomes very difficult to prove. The ambiguity remains intact as for what purpose she consented to.

Did she consent to do simple sex or sex in any form or her consent was gained by faking the terms of the contract. All these points become difficult to prove. Rising aggression and hostility towards female partners are effects of aggressive porn videos. These industries only focus on earning profits rather than the worker’s safety. Not only the porn industry but such content is publicized even by Hollywood like the movie- 50 Shades of Grey. The international and national laws are good on paper but when it comes to implementing these, the gap is never filled.

References:

  1. Sex trafficking, National Human Trafficking Hotline, https://humantraffickinghotline.org/type-trafficking/sex-trafficking
  2. Porn stars share dirty secrets, The Observer (July, 27, 2018, 3:14 A.M),
    https://m.gladstoneobserver.com.au/news/porn-stars-share-industry-dirty-secrets/3478689/
  3. U.S.A v. Edward Bagley, http://www.justice.gov/usao/mow/news2011/bagley_indictment2.pdf
  4. Jorge Keek, The dark side of the adult film industry, Film Daily (July, 3, 2020), https://filmdaily.co/news/female-porn-stars-abuse/
  5. PJ Wright, A Meta-Analysis of Pornography Consumption and Actual Acts of Sexual Aggression in General Population Studies, Journal of Communication (Dec, 29, 2015), https://academic.oup.com/joc/article-abstract/66/1/183/4082427?redirectedFrom=PDF
  6. European Centre for Law and Justice, Pornography and Human Rights, European Centre for Law and Justice (July, 2019), https://eclj.org/geopolitics/pace/pornography–human-rights
  7. Ruth Akinradewo, The Dark of Pornography, Press Red (Dec, 05, 2019) https://pressred.org/2019/12/05/the-dark-side-of-pornography/
  8. Debby Herbenick, Feeling Scared During Sex, Journal of Sex and Martial Therapy (Apr,4, 2019)
    https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0092623X.2018.1549634
  9. Ana J Bridges et al, Aggression and Sexual Behavior in Best-Selling Pornography Videos: A Content Analysis Update, Violence against Women (Oct, 26, 2010) https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1077801210382866
  10. Supra note 7
  11. Robert W. Peters, Laura J. Lederer, Shane Kelly, The Slave and The Porn Star: Sexual Trafficking and
    Pornography, The Protection Project Journal of Human Rights and Civil Society Issue 5, Pg.13 (2012)
  12. Supra note 11
  13. Kate Issacs, PornHub Needs to change or shut-down (Mar, 9, 2020), https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/mar/09/pornhub-needs-to-change-or-shut-down
  14. James Melley, My sister found me in revenge porn online, BBC NEWS (Feb 25, 2020)
    https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.com/news/amp/technology-49583420
  15. Souvik Ray, Top 10 most porn watching countries in the world: India on 3 rd India Times (July, 3, 2020, 4:51 P.M) https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.indiatimes.com/amp/news/world/india-3rd-most-porn-watching-country-in-the-world-up-from-4th-last-year-249212.html

 

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Jacquie and Michel: a former politician who became a porn actor at the heart of the scandal

Jacquie and Michel: a former politician who became a porn actor at the heart of the scandal

Posted by Mia on June 28, 2022 at 7:31 PM, https://www.letribunaldunet.fr/
Here is a new scandal which bursts in the industry of the sex. Already that the owner of the site Jacquie and Michel is accused in cases of rape , it is the turn of an actor in the middle to soak in a dark story. Indeed, a porn actor from the group, also a former political adviser to the UMP , is now accused of having published a sexual video of a woman without her consent . Here is the chilling testimony of the victim.

 

Michel Piron and Rick Angel: the two executioners of a woman

New blow for Jacquie and Michel . After the resignation of the boss of the site and the cessation of broadcasting on Canal + , another case affects the brand. Indeed, the media Le Parisien has just revealed the testimony of a woman . A chilling testimony that would relate facts of prostitution and porn shootings without consent. The victim, called Corinne by the media, would have experienced the worst with a porn actor from Jacquie and Michel, incidentally a former political adviser .

A former adviser under Nicolas Sarkozy turned porn actor

In the hotel room, things escalate very quickly. Corinne, seeing that Bastien did not arrive, decides to leave the room . She didn’t want to stay with the two unknown men. In order to prevent him from fleeing, Michel Piron would then have hit him . Subsequently, Corinne therefore stayed the night in the room, for fear of leaving the premises .

The next day, Michel Piron and Rick Angel reportedly posted a video of her on the porn site . “  My brother called Michel Piron to tell him that I had lost everything because of him, that I had suicidal thoughts  ,” she revealed in the French media. Corinne would not have received any payment for this filming, her colleagues would even have recognized her on the site and she would have ended up losing custody of her children .

In these terrible accusations, we seem to know one of the kidnappers: Michel Piron, director of Jacquie et Michel. On the other hand, we did not know the one who was called Rick Angel . Know that Rick Angel would be the stage name of a former political adviser , turned porn actor. He would have served as a ministerial adviser under Nicolas Sarkozy . He would have started his career in pornography while he was still in politics. Finally, he would have left the middle to devote himself to his acting career in 2009.

 

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Understand Everything About The Survey On The “Jacquie Et Michel” Porn Site

Understand Everything About The Survey On The “Jacquie Et Michel” Porn Site

16-6-2022 18:49:46

The owner of the “Jacquie et Michel” site was placed in police custody on Tuesday in the investigation opened in July 2020 in Paris for “rape and pimping”



  • The owner of the “Jacquie et Michel” site, Michel Piron, and four other people were placed in police custody on Tuesday in the investigation opened in July 2020 in Paris for “rape and pimping”.
  • “Jacquie et Michel” is a group born in 1999 and which based its success on the purchase of amateur videos at low cost in France.It announced 15 million euros in turnover in 2016.
  • Back to the “Jacquie et Michel” affair, a thunderclap in the amateur porn industry.

For a year, exceptional court cases have forced French porn to react and change its practices, a difficult step for an environment where consent is sometimes an abstract notion.

At the center of this file, the pornographic site “Jacquie et Michel”, currently under investigation for “rape” and “pimping”, and the sprawling case targeting the practices of “French Bukkake”.

A platform that offers extremely violent videos featuring young women often making their debut in the industry.

It would be the first time in France that porn actors have been prosecuted for “rape”.

While this Tuesday, the owner of “Jacquie et Michel” was placed in police custody,

20 Minutes

takes stock of this case which is shaking the amateur porn industry.

“Jacquie and Michel”, what is it?

“Jacquie et Michel” is a group born in 1999 and which based its success on the purchase of amateur videos at low cost in France.

The group, which notably owns the pornographic site in its name, announced a turnover of 15 million euros in 2016. “Jacquie et Michel” gradually professionalized its production, to come to now compete with the Dorcel group and ranks among the leaders of the pornographic industry.

Where are we with the investigation for “rape and pimping” concerning him?

The owner of the “Jacquie et Michel” site, Michel Piron, and four other people were taken into custody on Tuesday in the investigation for “rape and pimping”.

Nicolas Cellupica, the lawyer for the Arès group, chaired by Michel Piron and owner of the famous eponymous pornographic site, announced the placement in police custody of his 64-year-old client as well as his wife, Araceli, aged 60.

Michel Piron is retained in particular for “sexual assault” as well as for complicity in several offenses, including “aggravated rape”, “aggravated pimping” and “trafficking in human beings”, according to the Paris prosecutor’s office.

Three men, presented as “actors” by a source close to the case, are in particular in police custody for “aggravated rape or in a meeting”, “trafficking in human beings” or even “pimping”, still according to the prosecution.

When was the investigation?

The Paris public prosecutor’s office launched this investigation in July 2020 for “rape and pimping”, entrusted to the 3rd district of the Paris judicial police, after a report sent by Dare feminism, the Effronté-es and the movement of the Nest.

These three associations relayed the testimonies of several actresses.

In essence, these ensure that many actresses are forced to perform “unconventional and painful” sexual practices when they are not consenting.

And that they then undergo the dissemination of their image, even of their identity, without having the slightest control over this dissemination.

“This is why we qualify pornography as an act of torture and barbarism”, summed up

Claire Quidet, president of the Mouvement du Nid, in this description at

20 Minutes .

The starting point of this whole affair?

The broadcast by the Konbini site, in February 2020, of the testimony of two actresses recounting having undergone sexual acts for which they were not prepared.

According to the prosecution, “the procedure has seven complainants” to date.

The fact remains that the platform, popularized by the formula “We say thank you who?

is just the tree that hides a gigantic forest of other porn sites on which the videos are also distributed in order to multiply the income triggered by each viewing.

Another survey, conducted in Paris since 2020, thus targets the practices of the “French Bukkake” platform.

At least 12 people, including the producers nicknamed Pascal OP and Mat Hadix, are being prosecuted in this case, exceptional in its scope and open for “aggravated human trafficking”, “rape in a meeting” or “aggravated pimping”.

Since then, investigators have identified around fifty victims.

What the law says ?

This is a subject that still angers in the porn industry: the distinction between “professional” and “amateur”.

Following revelations about violence in the sector, French platforms such as “Dorcel” or “Jacquie et Michel” announced in November 2020 their desire to adopt ethical and deontological charters.

The fact remains that on Tuesday, at the announcement of the placement in police custody of his client, Michel Piron’s lawyer again hammered home that “pornography had never been equated with prostitution: a porn actress is not a prostitute and a producer or broadcaster is not a pimp”.

The porn industry is a “lawless” zone, according to Dare Feminism https://t.co/ENjTS4ILfh

— 20 Minutes (@20Minutes) January 24

This article was written by 20 minutes and translated from French, I don’t own any of the content.

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