The AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) says all porn production should be suspended in Los Angeles after a performer tested positive for HIV. Two adult film companies in Los Angeles have already halted production voluntarily. These industry "efforts" are simply not enough, says AHF, which has been campaigning for compulsory condom use in all adult firm sets. Film LA should halt the issue of permits for porn film production immediately, AHF insists.
Michael Weinstein, President of AHF said:
All porn production should be suspended until, at a minimum, it is known who has been exposed and until that information has been disclosed to public health authorities. Now is not the time to continue the porn industry's seriously flawed system of self-regulation - a system which has been demonstrated time and time again to be inadequate to protect performers from sexually-transmitted diseases. The industry has said that facts about who is infected will likely not be known until the end of the week. Meanwhile, filming continues and performers could be getting exposed and infected.
AHF quotes an article in the Los Angeles Times (Porn Film Performer Tests Positive for HIV):
An adult film performer in San Fernando Valley's lucrative porn industry has tested HIV-positive, prompting at least two well-known adult movie production companies to suspend filming as a precaution. The HIV infection of an active porn performer is the first known local case in more than a year and immediately strengthened calls by AIDS activists for the state to mandate condom use on porn sets and to increase regulation. The case was confirmed to The Times on Tuesday by officials at the Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation, known as AIM, a Sherman Oaks clinic that primarily serves porn industry workers.
The clinic that tested the performer positive said it will take two weeks to determine whether any other actors/actresses are also infected. This means nobody has any idea what the risk is at the moment of infected actors/actresses doing explicit sex scenes without protection infecting other actors/actresses.
During the Spring of 2004 five adult film actors were found to be HIV positive. The industry had to eventually close down temporarily. At the time there were calls for obligatory condom use. ("Porn industry in California suspended by HIV")
The 2004 limited outbreak triggered discussions in the California State government regarding the industry, there was talk of making the wearing of condoms during sex scenes mandatory. The industry protested, saying it would kill their sales - arguing that unprotected sex is a major selling point for their movies. Others said such legislation would force the industry underground.
The global pornographic movie industry is dominated by the USA, with the San Fernando Valley area (Los Angeles) being the heart of the industry.
Source: AIDS Healthcare Foundation
Written by Christian Nodqvist
Copyright: Medical News Today
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