#MeToo Has Finally Reached the Sex Industry
By: Mysterious Witt
Tags: Feminism, Women, Sexuality, Equality, Sex Work

#MeToo Has Finally Reached the Sex Industry

Ron Jeremy faces 28 counts of sexual violence and 250 years in prison. Finally.

Photo by Loren Cutler

Porn icon Ron Jeremy has been charged with twenty-eight counts of sexual violence and faces 250 years in prison after more than a dozen women came forward to accuse him of everything from sexual misconduct, assault, rape, and sex with a minor.

These offenses happened over the course of two decades. Why did Jeremy’s victims wait so long to file complaints?

Elle Hell, a sex worker and one of Ron Jeremy’s victims, told the Los Angeles Times:

You have everyday citizens who are already excusing and validating [Ron Jeremy’s] sexual assaults because we work in an industry where are “whores.”

Jeremy’s victims didn’t step forward earlier because no one would have believed them. And even if they were believed, who would have cared?

A sex worker can’t be raped. Her job is having sex.

Sex workers are understood to be very much “asking for it.” When they are raped, no one is fazed.

A sex worker deserves every bad thing that happens to her.

Is it any wonder that Jeremy’s victims took so long to go to the police? In fact, it’s a miracle that Jeremy has been charged at all.

That Ron Jeremy has been accused of assaulting and raping women doesn’t surprise me. What surprises me is that something is actually being done about it.

It’s high time that #MeToo reached the sex industry. Maybe now sex workers can finally live free from the threat of sexual violence.

At least now if we’re harassed, abused, or raped, we have the legal recourse to seek justice.

#MeToo and the sex industry.

If mainstream Hollywood actresses felt they weren’t strong enough to denounce powerful industry players like Harvey Weinstein, then sex workers have felt even more powerless in the face of the producers, directors, and establishment owners who hold the keys to their success.

Sex workers have too often believed that abuse is business as usual in the sex industry.

Assault is an occupational hazard of the job.

Former porn actor and writer for The Daily Beast, Aurora Snow, writes of the poor treatment she’s suffered on set:

I assumed that’s just how porn was. That’s how a lot of women thought back then: we accepted the status quo without knowing we shouldn’t. Complaining meant risking your job.

Just as Harvey Weinstein’s behavior was excused because of the major role he played in Hollywood, big names in the sex industry like Ron Jeremy have enjoyed the same protection.

Those days are over.

Ron Jeremy’s indictment has sent a clear message to men in the sex industry: the abuse, assault, and rape of sex workers will no longer be tolerated.

Sex workers have suffered long enough from abuse on the job.

#MeToo couldn’t have reached the sex industry any sooner. Just two years ago, adult film star Nikki Benz filed a suit against adult film director Tony T for the abuse she suffered during a porn shoot in 2016.

Benz alleges that during the shoot, Tony T jumped in mid-scene to stomp on her head before violently choking her.

Benz claims that she begged him to “cut” but he wouldn’t.

Benz filed charges against Tony T, her co-star Ramon Nomar, and the production company behind the shoot, Brazzers. The Los Angeles district attorney’s office, however, dropped her case, citing “insufficient evidence.”

Even worse, Tony T retaliated by suing Benz over claims of defamation.

Had Benz come forward today, perhaps she would have received the justice she deserves.

Women are often young and naive when they get into the industry.

Just as Hollywood producers like Harvey Weinstein preyed on young and naive Hollywood actresses, sex industry producers, directors and business owners often target young women who are new to the industry.

Even if a woman is of legal age — eighteen — she may still lack the knowledge and self-confidence to stand up for herself, especially when she’s auditioning to work.

Snow explains:

Certain directors have reputations for preying on unsuspecting newbies, coercing them into sex (off-set) with promises of future work.

A sex worker’s treatment doesn’t necessarily improve once she’s landed the job either.

Snow describes one of her shoots:

As a former porn star, I’ve done scenes that were so brutal I could barely drive home. I’d spend the next day curled up in a ball on my couch not wanting to move, unable to eat because everything hurt so much.

At least now there’s a legal precedent for a woman to file a complaint against her employer when she’s abused on set, on the floor of “the house,” or anywhere else she may go to do her job.

Thanks to the women who denounced Ron Jeremy, #MeToo has finally reached the sex industry.

Negotiating boundaries in the sex industry has always been a tricky business. When you’re having sex for money, where do you draw the line?

Are you allowed to say no to certain activities? Because your job is pleasing men, do you have to say yes to everything?

No.

Men in the sex industry have too often believed they can treat female sex workers however they want. Worse, sex workers used to have nowhere to turn.

The implicit understanding was that a woman was supposed to suck it up and shut up if she wanted success in the industry.

That era has ended.

Men can no longer treat sex workers like garbage and expect to get away with it.

Now there’s a precedent that a man can be charged with sexual violence, even if the victim is a sex worker.

Ron Jeremy’s indictment is a win for female sex workers everywhere.

But we couldn’t have reached this point without the courageous actions of those women who risked everything to go after Ron Jeremy.

Because of them, #MeToo has finally reached the sex industry.

And it’s high time it did.