Pornography Is Filmed Prostitution: Trauma, Violence, PTSD & Dissociation in Swedish Pornography Production

We interviewed 101 women and men in Sweden who experienced both prostitution and pornography production. While survivors of prostitution have long stated that there is little or no difference in their experience of either of these arms of the sex trade, there has been scant research that systematically investigates pornography production from the perspective of the person who is filmed. We hypothesized that the violence and consequent symptoms of emotional distress resulting from pornography production were equal to or greater than the violence and emotional distress resulting from prostitution. In this pilot study we obtained quantitative and anecdotal data which indicated that interviewees suffered the same or similar antecedent traumatic abuse and neglect, racist and sexist verbal abuse, manipulation, and coercive control, with rape and other violence from pornography sex buyers and pimps. The production and dissemination of their pornography videos caused many of our interviewees extreme distress. We found an 84% incidence of moderate to very severe PTSD symptoms. Sixty percent of the time interviewees met screening criteria for a dissociative disorder. Interviewees reported that the only difference between their experiences in prostitution and pornography was the presence of a camera and the adverse impact of widespread distribution of their images. These findings strongly suggest the need to recognize pornography production as a source of serious harms. We conclude that it is reasonable to conceptually and legally reconnect pornography and prostitution.