Here I am again, tv murmuring in the darkened living room. ..
🕑 Added 2017-05-25 07:49:38 +0000 UTC
Here I am again, tv murmuring in the darkened living room. Everyone is asleep. My phone the only bright light in the room.
Some colleagues reached out to me for some help today. One, a group in charge of defending sex worker's rights. The other, an advocate for performer's safety.
There's a cavernous miscommunication happening, between these two well-meaning entities. I'll explain, with minor anonymity:
A male performer, who's no longer in the industry, has a caustic, social dating history with several female talents. During his time with each woman, he's been accused of knowingly infecting them with herpes, a potentially career-ending infection, depending on the severity and frequency of the person's outbreaks. A model, male or female, is NOT permitted to be on camera, or, even on set, if they have an active outbreak or lesions.
Many human beings live active, healthy lives, even romantic ones, with the herpes simplex virus. It's a perfectly manageable, common condition. However, when sex work is considered, it's almost as bad as getting HIV. There's an assassinating stigma associated with a performer who's got, or even worse, GIVEN to another performer, herpes.
Getting back on track, the safety advisor was notified by this former male's lovers, some industry females, that he has been contacting new models for XXX work, knowing he's deliberately infected others with the virus, without telling them he was infected.
The safety advisor contacted the performer's rights group to warn them, imploring them to help prevent this male's return to the industry, after he'd viciously infected others, to keep his virus a secret.
The performer's rights group immediately jumped to the protection of the accused, requiring proof of the male's history, which is a crime, punishable by law. To inhibit a person's ability to work, by damaging their reputation falsely, is slander, also a crime. Exes sometimes seek to destroy a former lover by castrating him/her professionally.
Both of these groups are absolutely doing their jobs. Both are honourable to stand their ground. Both are caught up in being impenetrable, on behalf of their beliefs.
What's missing? Information being shared in the middle.
The accusers need to come forward, each of them. If they truly want to protect future female performers, they can speak directly to the performer's rights groups, instead of sending the safety advisor. Substantiate the claim made against the male. Provide emails, texts, doctor's diagnoses,etc. In light of that irrefutable evidence, the performer's rights group would have no choice but to step in to protect potential victims.
Until then, it is their obligation to protect the male from libelous accusations and social media slander.
Better yet, employ an independent party to conduct an investigation.
I hope these two powerful forces of good can put their dukes down long enough to meet in the middle and reach the truth. No egos necessary. No apologies needed. Just truth and the forward movement of our work.
😐
