Industry & Economics
Understanding Pornography as Filmed Prostitution.
Open Access: Yes.
Abstract
We interviewed 107 Swedish women and men. 95% had experienced both prostitution and pornography production. The interviewees explained an overlap in their experiences of pornography and prostitution with more than a third of interviewees being dissociated during pornography production. Interviewees described the ways in which pornography involves different risks than prostitution but both have negative consequences. Some viewed pornography production as fun and exciting but with qualifications: they noted that is a permanent record of the sex acts performed in prostitution. Thus the uploaded film follows the person who was filmed, forever into the future. A number of interviewees said that they preferred nonfilmed prostitution to pornography production because they assumed that in prostitution there would be no filmed record of the humiliation of prostitution. More than half of our interviewees’ prostitution was filmed without consent. Interviewees were concerned about the lack of public awareness of what pornography is like for the person who is filmed. The authors propose that from the perspective of the sexually exploited woman herself, prostitution and pornography are inseparable. We describe some robust legal responses to the longstanding impunity of pimps who sell pornography and sex buyers who purchase it.
Relevance
“As in prostitution, many interviewees said that it was necessary to dissociate in order to survive the experience of pornography production. More than a third of interviewees (39% 38/97) described being dissociated during pornography production; they felt numb, felt nothing, not-there, empty, or shut down. During pornography production if they did not dissociate, they tended to feel overwhelming disgust, shame, anxiety, and fear.”
“64% (65/102) of our interviewees told us that they had been filmed without their consent during the purchase of sex that had no agreement to filming. Our interviewees’ boundaries were routinely overridden, both regarding what sex act was or was not agreed to, how long the prostitution session was to last, and whether or not they agreed to have their prostitution filmed. Many did not agree to being filmed but they were filmed anyway.”
“A particularly harmful aspect of pornography production, the interviewees told us, is that it is a permanent record of the sex acts performed in prostitution…they are distressed by the fact that their pornography may be seen by someone who they did not want to see it. Two thirds of our interviewees (67%, 70/104) were worried that at some time in the future, their family, employer or friends might see their pornography. Our interviewees explained that at least a third of the time (36%, 37/103) the women and men were blackmailed by someone who had downloaded their videos.”
Some of the interviewees said:
“..people don’t realize that coercion and force can be a part of porn as well as prostitution.”
“I find porn more offensive and humiliating [than prostitution]. It feels more revealing, more shameful..”
“It makes it harder for me to block the emotions. I get closer to the feelings when I have to pretend to have them, it’s harder to switch off. I also get more disgusted. When I only meet someone who wants to sleep with me, I think, he just wants to come, and that’s it. When it’s porn, a scene must be set up for others to watch.”
Citation
Farley, M., & Bergkvist, E. (2026). Understanding Pornography as Filmed Prostitution. Gender-Based Violence and Equality Policies, 1, Article e13. https://doi.org/10.51698/k68cgy70
