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Managing HIV Outbreaks in the US Porn Industry

Sun, August 23, 2:30 to 3:30pm, TBA

Abstract

Making use of interview data, this paper discusses policies implemented to manage the risk of HIV transmission in the US porn industry. While prostitutes have been heavily regulated by the state, the porn industry has, in general, been allowed to be self-regulating presumably because performers are seen to be risking only their own health (and the health of their co-workers), not the health of the “general public.” Efforts at self-regulation in the porn industry began in 1998 in the aftermath of an outbreak of HIV transmission. The industry group, the Free Speech Coalition, partnered with a former adult film performer, Sharon Mitchell, to create Adult Industry Medicals (AIM) in order to facilitate regular STD testing of performers and to create a data-base of test results to be shared with producers and performers. Until a second outbreak of HIV in 2004, self-regulation through mandatory testing and exclusion seemed to successfully manage HIV risk. Finally, in 2012 and 2013, legislators in Los Angeles County imposed mandatory condom use on all porn sets despite strong opposition by the industry on the ground that they would drive production out of the area or underground, undermining efforts at industry-wide self-regulation. Indeed, permit applications in LA have dropped from 485 applications in 2012 to 40 in 2013. Whether the laws have made pornography safer is an open question. In December of 2014, another outbreak of HIV transmission occurred – this time on Nevada porn sets.

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