Financial Discrimination in Adult Entertainment

• 11 May, 2024
• Adult Site Broker

Given that sexual freedom is purportedly one of the core values of a secular society at this point in history, a reasonable observer would assume that this idea is constant and held by powerful individuals. It’s true that we will never be flawless. You may, however, expect to see greater efforts to give those who work in non-traditional occupations—such as sex work and the adult industry—equal access to financial services. 

In this blog article, Adult B2B Marketing will briefly discuss the problem of financial discrimination that affects the adult entertainment sector.

MelRose Michaels’ website Sex Work CEO and the Free Speech Coalition, a trade organization representing companies in the adult entertainment sector, collaborated to study and write a white paper on financial discrimination. Director of Public Affairs for the Free Speech Coalition Mike Stabile told Gustavo Turner of XBIZ that “the rampant financial discrimination against the adult industry is devastating to our businesses and workers.” Financial companies exploit the labor of individuals working in the adult sector by charging extortionate fees and seizing funds without cause. Mike Stabile says that this investigation exposes abhorrent behavior. In a recent two-part series on our podcast, Adult Site Broker Talk, Stabile and FSC Executive Director Alison Boden both spoke. They both spoke about this.

Nearly two out of every three adults who work in the field reported losing access to a bank account or other financial resource, according to the poll. Of those surveyed, 40% said they had recently closed a bank account. The poll also revealed issues that adult businesses and employees have with financial products and services, such as credit cards, loans, insurance, mobile payments, banking, and credit cards—all of which have never been thoroughly investigated in this way before.

The report’s findings are rather depressing. Below are the demographic details.

Of the participants, 93% are over 25 years old. Contrary to common belief, the poll indicates that those employed in the adult entertainment industry are not as young as some may think.

Women and women-owned businesses predominate in the adult sector. The gender distribution of the responders was 55% women and 37% males. Of performers, 5% identify as transgender. Approximately 63% of creators are female.

Of creators, 21% are people of color. Fifty-five percent of artists identify as LGBTQ+.

Sixty-two percent of workers in the adult entertainment industry have lost access to financial products or bank accounts as a result of their employment and career selections.

A significant issue for 48% of adult companies is financial discrimination.

35 percent of adult businesses lost a bank account and 45 percent lost a financial tool account in the year prior.

Creators of color are twice as likely to report an account closure during the recent year compared to other creators.

Two out of every five instances of workplace discrimination include performers.

Among those who have performed, one in three have experienced prejudice in housing prospects. Roughly 20% of those who work in the adult industry have had their loan and mortgage applications denied.

Fifteen percent of them have had their insurance applications denied because they work in adult entertainment.

Of those who work in the industry, 29% say they can no longer obtain credit products.

The results keep trickling in. Please make sure to read the full report. There were around 400 respondents to the survey. 

Contributors to the present study include performers, creators, owners, executives, industry participants, employees, and others who earn some primary or secondary revenue from occupations in the adult entertainment sector. 

In a news release, the Free Speech Coalition said, “Future reports will be produced; the study is ongoing.” 

We’ll utilize the data to help pass laws and regulations that advance equitable banking practices. It’s important to remember that prejudice plays a role in discrimination since many industries, even though they are lawful, are risky and unpopular politically.

“Money Shot: The Pornhub Story,” the newest Netflix documentary, centers on a significant turning point in the battle against porn. In this documentary, director Suzanne Hillinger looks at the financial impact of the efforts to shut down the adult video website Pornhub.com. Even though the majority of the film was shot in 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the problems that adult superstars like Siri Dahl, Asa Akira, Natassia Dreams, award-winning director Bree Mills, and Mike Stabile himself are facing are largely focused on the banking industry’s discrimination against industry members. Additionally, the movie presents a compelling case against the anti-pornography movement. Hillinger does a fantastic job of illuminating the true human cost suffered by adult performers who all of a sudden lost access to tens of thousands of dollars in profits from ad-share and traffic-share through Pornhub’s model program.

New York Times editorial contributor Nicholas Kristof wrote a highly read investigative piece about the challenges of policing child sex abuse content on the internet, especially on Pornhub. In “The Children of Pornhub,” Kristof unfairly portrayed MindGeek’s efforts to prevent illegal content and CSAM from appearing on their networks. The picture wasn’t particularly inviting. Organizations opposed to pornography took advantage of Kristof’s piece to refute the misleading claim that the pornographic business is unrestricted. Nevertheless, Mastercard and Visa gradually limited and then halted the processing of in-network credit card payments for Pornhub Premium and other premium websites in the network, such Brazzers and Modelhub.

Particularly Mastercard bought into the narrative against pornography propagated by the National Center on Sexual Exploitation and the evangelical Exodus Cry, which Kristof reinforced. In doing so, Mastercard created unnecessary and discriminatory rules for companies wishing to process payments from customers using their credit card network. Businesses in the adult sector have opted to quit Mastercard even with compliance.

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