Financial Discrimination in Adult Entertainment
A logical observer would think that this belief is consistent and shared by influential people when history is at a moment where sexual freedom is allegedly one of the fundamental principles of a secular society. True, we can never obtain perfection. However, you might anticipate more initiatives to provide equal access to financial services for those who work and engage in non-traditional occupations including sex work and employment in the adult industry.
Adult Business Consulting will quickly address the issue of financial discrimination affecting the adult entertainment industry in this blog post.
The Free Speech Coalition, a trade association for businesses like ours in the adult entertainment industry, conducted research for and co-authored a white paper on financial discrimination with MelRose Michaels’ website Sex Work CEO. The Free Speech Coalition’s Mike Stabile, director of public affairs, told XBIZ‘s Gustavo Turner that “the rampant financial discrimination against the adult industry is devastating to our businesses and workers.” The labor of those employed in the adult sector is being abused by financial institutions, from exploitative fees to unjustified fund seizures. This research sheds light on a deplorable practice, according to Mike Stabile. Stabile and FSC Executive Director Alison Boden have both been on our podcast, Adult Site Broker Talk, in a recent two-part series. Both individuals discussed this.
According to the survey, almost 2 out of 3 people who make a living in the adult sector have reported losing access to a bank account or other financial resource. 40% of respondents disclosed that they had recently closed a banking account. The survey also noted that adult enterprises and workers have problems with financial items, including banking services, mobile payments, credit cards, loans, and insurance, which have never been properly explored in this manner.
The report’s conclusions are extremely grim. Demographic details are included below.
93 percent of participants are older than 25. According to the survey, workers in the adult entertainment sector aren’t as young as some people believe, contrary to popular misconceptions.
The adult sector is predominantly dominated by women and women-owned firms. 37 percent of the respondents were men, whereas 55% of the respondents were women. 5% of performers are transgender. Most creators, or around 63 percent, are women.
People of color make up 21% of creators. Among creators, 55 percent identify as LGBTQ+.
Due to their employment and career decisions, 62% of employees in the adult entertainment sector have lost access to financial goods or bank accounts.
According to 48% of adult firms, financial discrimination is a serious problem.
In the preceding year, 35 percent of adult enterprises lost a bank account and 45 percent lost a financial tool account.
In comparison to other creators, creators of color are twice as likely to report an account closure in the last year.
Performers make up 2 out of 5 cases of employment discrimination.
One in three performers has encountered discrimination in housing opportunities. As a result of working in the adult business, roughly 20% have had their loan and mortgage applications declined.
Due to their employment in adult entertainment, 14% have had their insurance applications declined.
Due to their employment in the sector, 29% have reported losing access to credit products.
The findings keep coming. Do read the report in its entirety. The poll received responses from about 400 individuals.
Performers, creators, owners, executives, members of the industry, staff members, and other people who receive some primary or secondary income from jobs related to adult entertainment have contributed to the current report.
The Free Speech Coalition stated in a press release that “the study is ongoing, and future reports will be produced.
We will use the information to support legislation and regulation promoting banking fairness. One thing to keep in mind is that bias is a factor in discrimination because, despite being legal, some sectors are dangerous and politically unpopular.
The latest Netflix documentary, “Money Shot: The Pornhub Story,” focuses on a crucial turning point in the fight against porn. Filmmaker Suzanne Hillinger investigates the financial effects of the efforts to take down the adult video website Pornhub.com in this documentary. The issues that adult superstars like Siri Dahl, Asa Akira, Natassia Dreams, award-winning director Bree Mills, and Mike Stabile himself are facing are heavily centered on the banking industry’s discrimination against industry members, even though most of the movie was made in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic. The film also makes a powerful argument against the anti-pornography campaign. The genuine human cost endured by adult performers who all abruptly lost access to tens of thousands of dollars in ad-share and traffic-share earnings through Pornhub’s model program is brilliantly brought to light by Hillinger.
Nicholas Kristof, a New York Times editorial contributor, published a widely read investigative article on the difficulties in policing child sex abuse content online, particularly on Pornhub. In his article titled “The Children of Pornhub,” Kristof painted an unfair picture of MindGeek’s attempts to stop CSAM and unlawful content on their networks. It wasn’t a very appealing picture. The anti-porn movement organizations seized on Kristof’s article as a chance to demonstrate that pornography is an unfettered industry, which is false. The processing of in-network credit card purchases for Pornhub Premium and other premium websites in the network, such as Brazzers and Modelhub, was nonetheless finally restricted and eventually blocked by both Mastercard and Visa.
Mastercard in particular bought into the anti-porn narrative that was developed by the National Center on Sexual Exploitation and the evangelical Exodus Cry, which was amplified by Kristof. In this, Mastercard established discriminatory and redundant regulations for businesses planning to handle consumer payments through their credit card network. Even with compliance, businesses in the adult industry have chosen to leave Mastercard.
Read more from the Adult Business Consulting blog.
Adult Business Consulting thanks you for reading this blog post. Please get in touch with us if you have any questions.