“Rape”, “torture” and “dehumanization”: the damning report of the Senate on the porn industry – BFMTV

Entitled “The hell of the decor”, the investigation carried out by senators points to the sexual violence perpetrated and conveyed by the pornographic industry. A damning report that calls for action by public authorities. After more than six months of work, four senators present this Wednesday a damning report on the porn industry entitled “The hell of the decor”. Throughout these 140 pages that BFMTV.com was able to consult, the rapporteurs paint a grim portrait of a prolific company, made up of professionals and amateurs, and which “generates systemic violence against women, whether they are those who find themselves in these productions such as those who undergo a sexuality modeled on the norms of violence conveyed by porn”. greed, blind and deaf to the abuse, domination and unbridled exploitation of women’s bodies. “There are absolutely no rules, no controls, not even regarding the wearing of the present. rvative. Often, the woman finds herself alone in front of groups of men”, testifies the journalist Marie Maurisse, author of Planet Porn, Survey on the trivialization of X. The consent of the actresses, often in precarious financial situation, is extorted. Women are forced to “do as many things as possible in front of the camera” and subjected to a “trivialisation of extreme sexual practices”, she continues. “Ideal prey” Thus, among the categories of pornographic content offered on the Internet, “you will find ( …) the category of rape, with unambiguous keywords: anal surprise, taken by surprise, unwanted facial… These are incitements to commit crimes. (…) There are also categories of kidnapping or sequestration (…) Once again, this is not fake. When the woman cries, she really cries”, explains Claire Charlès, spokesperson for the association Les Effronté.es. It is in this context that French justice seized the subject for the first time, in 2020. sexual violence in this environment.A judicial investigation has been opened against the French Bukkake platform for “rape in meetings, aggravated trafficking in human beings and aggravated pimping” resulting in the indictment of twelve individuals.Heared by the senators, the victims report the same recruitment system, based on the young age of the actresses and their precariousness, through false Facebook or Instagram profiles. “We are spoken to every day. The person introduces herself as an escort, she tells me that it’s wonderful, that it’s magic, that she has money galore. (…) Behind this false profile of a girl, there was a man”, explains a young woman. Recruiters target their prey: “They knew that I had money worries. I was the ideal prey for them, that’s how you get into it”, she explains, while another abounds: “I needed this money right away. I had to pay my bills and my rent otherwise I would lose my apartment.” “Lobotomized”, “dehumanized” will not be broadcast in France. Verbal, physical and psychological violence ensues with forced sexual practices, and sexual and financial blackmail if the actresses demand the removal of the videos. “The first rape, with all the stratagems, made of me as a robot who only obeys men who have lobotomized me, it has trivialized these acts”, says a victim. A testimony which echoes the “dehumanization” denounced by the senators and which seems limitless: another victim claims to have been forced to eat the same food given to the producer’s dogs during a filming.“Lobotomization”, “dehumanization” and even “torture”.When an actress opposes the relatio ns anal sex, the production then sweeps away its reservations with the back of the hand: “Don’t piss off, it’s going to go quickly”. We don’t realize that it’s rape, that it’s torture . We are in pain, we are helpless. Another man, another rape, forced sodomy (…) still no condom”, she says. “Omerta began to crack. In 2020, the Paris prosecutor’s office opened a judicial investigation against the Jacquie et Michel brand. The CEO of the group (ARES) and three other people are being prosecuted for “complicity in rape” and “trafficking in human beings in an organized gang”. A responsibility strongly disputed by the respondents. “The role of broadcaster that we have created an amalgam and we look forward to being able to explain it to the investigators in order to show the seriousness of our companies and the ferocious desire that the adult industry be just as respectable and respected as any other industry”, defended Michel Piron, the CEO, in a letter addressed to the rapporteurs. Jacquie and Michel thus brandish their status as diffuser to discharge t any responsibility related to the content of the videos posted online. However, “the broadcasters (…) know very well that certain videos are shot in deplorable conditions, with abuse. They do everything they can to avoid being responsible. I am obviously thinking of Dorcel or Jacquie and Michel, who install barriers”, underlines the journalist Robin d’Angelo, author of Judy, Lola, Sofia and me, an investigation into the middle of pornography in France. Can these abuses, long ignored by French justice, be curbed? With this harsh criticism of the porn industry, the senators hope to raise awareness and obtain the total mobilization of the government and public opinion in order to initiate a paradigm shift.Ambre Lepoivre Journalist BFMTV