The rapidly spreading coronavirus outbreak, which had claimed 39 lives and infected a confirmed 1,504 people in the United States as of Thursday afternoon, has also affected the porn industry—though as of March 12 no known porn performer or worker had tested positive.
But as the site Mashable reported on Thursday, even without known infections, porn performers and other sex workers are in an especially vulnerable position, because preventing spread of the virus requires taking steps such as “social distancing” that would appear incompatible with filming explicit sex scenes.
With most porn performers working as independent contractors, a work stoppage also means an income stoppage.
"The last thing you want is a situation where the risk is relatively high and people are worried about making rent," said Michael Stabile of Kink.com and the Free Speech Coalition, in the Mashable report. “And they go into situations where, you know, to shoot where they shouldn't, you know, or at a time when it might be more risky."
The Free Speech Coalition today updated its advisory on coronavius (COVID-19). The advisory can be found here.
Mashable quotes one porn performer and director, Vex Ashley, who has already put a “pause” on shooting. But with four projects in the pipeline, Ashley said that her business will be able to “tide us over,” until the crisis hopefully subsides.
"Sex workers, like all workers, are probably going to be hit by the climate of fear," Ashley told Mashable. “But unlike a lot of workers they can't rely on sick pay or government subsidies to help tide them over because in some countries their work is still criminalized so they're one of the most vulnerable groups in a situation like this."
Thanks to the rise in popularity of camming and clip stores, many porn performers now have the option of working from home—one of the primary recommendations made by experts for stemming the spread of the coronavirus.
While there has not yet been an official shutdown of industry porn shoots, huge segments of American culture simply shut down on Wednesday and Thursday. The NBA, NHL, and Major League Soccer all “suspended” their seasons, while Major League Baseball closed down spring training games and delayed its March 26 opening day by at least two weeks.
Disneyland also shuttered, as did Broadway in New York City, where both Madison Square Garden and the Barclays Center in Brooklyn will likely be closed for months, according to a CNN report.
Photo by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention / Wikimedia Commons Public Domain
