Most Californians take comfort in knowing that when they go to work, the state is looking out for their health and safety on the job. Unfortunately, this is not the case for workers in California’s adult film industry.
Despite a May 8 submission in the Daily Bruin claiming the industry’s testing regimen is sufficient, infections and reinfections persist at epidemic levels.
In a peer-reviewed study published by Rodriguez-Hart et al. (2012), 28 percent of adult film performers tested positive for chlamydia and/or gonorrhea. In another scientific research study by Goldstein et al. (2011), performers were found to be 34 times more at-risk for chlamydia and 64 times more at-risk for gonorrhea than the general L.A. County population. In the same study, female performers were 27 percent more likely to have a repeat infection within one year.
The issue is simple: Testing to prevent infections is like taking a pregnancy test to prevent pregnancy. The adult film industry’s testing protocols are inadequate and leave workers with untreated infections that can lead to serious long-term health consequences.
The solution is simpler: condoms.
According to the World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Medical Association and the American Public Health Association, condoms are the single most effective way to protect adult film performers from serious workplace infections. Condoms are prevention.
On Nov. 6, 2012, Angelenos voted 57-43 in support of Measure B, known as the Safer Sex in the Adult Film Industry Act. Measure B requires all adult film industry performers in L.A. County to wear condoms on film sets.
Assembly Bill 332 is a proposed California-wide bill that will provide statewide uniformity to ensure all adult film workers receive the same clean and healthy workplaces every other Californian enjoys.
Not only does AB 332 require the use of condoms, it also includes testing set forth by the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health and the California Department of Public Health.
Some may feel that condom use in the adult film industry is a matter of personal choice, but this issue is not personal – it’s professional.
Going to work should not result in bodily harm or lifelong disability. Reputable studies clearly demonstrate that the adult film industry fails to provide even a minimum standard of protection.
I support AB 332 because it protects adult film workers in a legal California industry using the simplest form of prevention: condoms.
Cohen is a graduate student at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health.