An advocacy group that has been campaigning for more government protections for porn performers plans to file a complaint Thursday against mega-producer Larry Flynt Publications, publisher of Hustler.
AIDS Healthcare Foundation, a Los Angeles-based group that has advocated for condom use and increased testing among porn performers, plans to file a worker safety complaint with the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health.
The group takes issue with film shoots that depict sexual acts without condom usage, which the group said is unsafe and potentially life-threatening.
The group plans to submit 100 adult entertainment DVDs along with their complaint to the state agency.
The nonprofit foundation has been campaigning for increased regulation since a 2004 HIV outbreak among performers in the San Fernando Valley.
According to Los Angeles County public health officials, since 2004, at least eight people were employed in the adult film industry at the time of their HIV diagnoses. Four of those people are confirmed to have been infected during an adult-film production. Officials also said that as many as a quarter of porn performers are diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease in any given year.
In March, the group persuaded state health officials to form an advisory panel to consider adding protections, including requiring performers to use condoms.
Porn industry officials have disputed the figures of STDs used by county officials and AIDS activists, saying that current industry practices, such as screening for diseases monthly, were enough to protect them. During a Cal/OSHA hearing in June, porn actors and actresses protested against the possible strengthening of rules requiring condom use in adult movies.
-- My-Thuan Tran
