The stigma around porn work: inhibiting the enforcement of health and safety regulations

Abstract

Laws around occupational health and safety are not enforced in the gig economy porn industry. From nine semi-structured interviews with UK-based adult content creators (ACCs) it emerges that, while working on online platforms, they receive no training and are not supported with regard to the work-related risks they encounter while performing sex. ACCs self-regulate how to perform sex in the safest manner and avoid the risk of catching sexually transmitted diseases and infections, at their own expense and in their free time. Yet a doctrinal analysis of UK health and safety laws reveals that platforms should be obligated to provide ACCs with paid training, and personal protective equipment such as tests and condoms, to provide them with a safe work environment. Even self-employed individuals in fact have a right to be protected at work and to ensure that third parties are not harmed because of their work. I therefore argue that the lack of enforcement of health and safety regulations on online porn platforms is triggered by the stigma around porn work. Selling sex is perceived as a taboo activity; stigma is a powerful tool which relegates ACCs to the margins of society, while relegating porn platforms to lawless territories.