How We Can Make the Porn Industry Safer
Like the outbreak in 2004, this instance of a porn performer testing positive for HIV and possibly spreading it to other talent has spurred a lot of discussion about changes that need to be made to protect people in the future. The three main suggestions being put forward are mandatory condom use, more testing and overhauling AIM. While HIV may be one of the risks of working in porn, I believe the last two options could significantly improve the chances of preventing future outbreaks.
Mandatory Condom Use
On the surface, condoms seem like the obvious answer to this problem. In fact, several people and organizations that I hold in the highest regard have endorsed this policy. I simply cannot.
Whether it’s true or not, porn producers are very certain that condoms lower sales. Which means legislating the use of condoms in California will have two effects: some producers will move to more hospitable states (Florida, for example) and others will flaunt the law. John Stagliano (himself HIV+) has said, “The market determines whether or not this will be shown. A government agency the size of Los Angeles couldn’t stop it. It’s not going to change.”
Perhaps topping that, condoms could put female performers in more, not less, danger of contracting STIs. According to veteran director (and partner of the lovely Nina Hartley), Ernest Greene:
While the folks who suggest legislation certainly have the best interests of the performers at heart, in my opinion, mandating condoms simply won’t work.
More Testing
In yesterday’s post, I talked about the factors that make the current system untenable. Thirty days is a long window and in the porn business, a person can have dozens of partners in that time. Even with the PCR-DNA test that AIM uses, the window between contracting the virus and it showing up on a test is at least 12 days.
In an unlikely, but entirely possible scenario, a male performer (males are more likely to pass on the virus than females) could contract HIV from a non-industry sex partner on May 1st, receive a negative test on May 10th and go on to infect any number of partners in that 30 days until his next test. At least with a 15 day testing window, only half of those people would be exposed. Obviously not perfect, but I’m sure the people he would’ve worked with in the second half of that month would appreciate it.
Additionally, testing for all life-threatening STIs needs to be conducted on a regular basis. More on that below.
Overhaul AIM
Long-time industry veteran and commentator Mike South put forth a five-point plan for bringing AIM up to the level that it needs to be to adequately protect performers:
Second Sharon Mitchell must step down, her credibility is lower than that of George W Bush, The whole Doctor thing bit her in the ass, it’s time to fix it.
Third we must start testing not only for HIV but also Hep A and B Hepatitis kills way more people every year than AIDS does. We also must do a full panel, it doesnt matter if 75% of porners have herpes the 25% who don’t have a right to know if the person they are working with does.
Fourth we should be doing both a viral load test for HIV and an antibody test, one without the other is not sufficient. You may say fine South but where will the money come from? I tell you what we can do it a lot cheaper now than it will cost should the county/state get involved…find the money you can pay now or you can pay a lot more later.
Finally we need to implement a system of full disclosure, if someone has been exposed or tests positive everyone must know. The people who were quarantined from the Darren James situation didn’t suffer ant [sic] long term bad results. porn people are fine working with you if you test clean for the required length afterward.
Likewise if you do gay porn or have done gay porn (and yes tranny is gay) that should be disclosed as well, it puts you in a higher risk group and your potential partners have the right to know that. If that bothers you don’t sign up to be talent. When you perform in this business you have no private sex life, other peoples lives depend on making informed decisions and if you are hiding things they cant make informed decisions. If you don’t like that tough shit, stay out of the biz.
While I don’t always side with Mike, I think he’s put a lot of thought into this and it would almost certainly help make AIM more reputable and effective.
I realize my stance may be relatively controversial, but I honestly think something needs to be done before we’re back in this same position again.
As a final note, it’s very important to remember that when we talk about Patient Zero and those who are under quarantine, we’re talking about real people going through a dark and frightening time in their lives. While medical advances have improved the quality of life of those with HIV tremendously, the sad fact is that contracting this disease changes your life forever. My heart goes out to them and I truly hope to never have the occasion to write post like this again.
Related posts:
- New HIV Infection Reported in Porn Industry: The Facts as We Know Them
- Porn Performers’ Health: Why the System is Broken
Tags: adult industry medical, aids, aids in porn, aim, condoms in porn, ernest greene, hiv, hiv in porn, hiv scare of 2009, hiv testing, mandatory condom use, mike south, PCR-DNA tests, sharon mitchell, STDs, STIs
This entry was posted on Thursday, June 18th, 2009 at 2:42 pm and is filed under industry. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
8 Responses to “How We Can Make the Porn Industry Safer”
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June 19th, 2009 at 7:52 am
Tony Comstock says:Mike South’s suggestion that AIM’s board be comprised of health care professionals with no ties to porn begs the question, could half a dozen health care professional be found who would be willing to stake their professional reputation on the “AIM protocol” as an STI harm reduction strategy?
If six such appropriately credencialled professionals could be found, that wouldn’t be enough for me to depend on the protocol in my filmmaking, but I would revisit my opinion about it’s recklessness as a choice.
June 19th, 2009 at 9:23 am
alison hart says:Well, I think that’s the key. They would need to use their training to come up with a new protocol if necessary. One of the main problems with Sharon Mitchell is her utter lack of medical and public health training.
I think every producer needs to decide what works for them just as every performer needs to decide whether they feel the system in place is good enough to trust their lives to. At the end of the day, everyone should have the freedom to make those choices.
June 20th, 2009 at 12:04 am
HotScooter2 says:Alison:
i applaud you for addressing this very serious issue,and would like to make some additional comments.
I think a lot of HIV and other STD’s could be prevented if there were less Anal sex in the adult business.of course they can come from vaginal and oral sex as well but i personally feel the risk are greater with anal.
But i think by far the worst act performed in the adult business as far as spreading Hepatitis ,as well as STD’s and HIV is ATM.
i am not a doctor or even in the medical profession and all i have stated is my own unprofessional personal opinion ,and i chose to share my opinion. in the south there is an expression “opinions are liike assholes,everybody’s got one”
June 21st, 2009 at 10:19 pm
HotScooter2 says:Alison:
another comment i would like to make,is that unless public demand changes i think HIV,AIDS,STD’s and Hepatitis are only going to get worse. unfortunately the profit motive rather than the health motive dictates the adult business. so unless those of us that watch porn change our taste,things will continue to get worse. and i agree with you Alison in that use of condoms is not a real solution as you have already explained
June 22nd, 2009 at 11:07 am
alison hart says:Thanks, HotScooter. You are right that riskier acts like anal sex do pose more of a risk of disease transmission than vaginal or oral sex. As for ATM, I’ve never thought it was a good idea, but I honestly don’t know how truly dangerous it is. It seems totally plausible that hep could be transmitted that way though.
June 22nd, 2009 at 11:09 am
alison hart says:Profit is the only motive in this (and every) business. The only way performers can truly protect themselves is to be informed, only participate in activities they are comfortable with, and be as careful as possible. The idea of a union comes up every now and then, but it hasn’t materialized yet.
June 22nd, 2009 at 9:16 pm
HotScooter2 says:Alison:
i really like the idea of a union.gonna surpise you and make this the shortest comment i have ever made to you lol. Again i am pleased that you were brave enough to bring up this controversial subject. u take care gal and talk to ya later
June 23rd, 2009 at 10:44 am
alison hart says:Thanks, hon!