Contrary to popular belief: yes, sex workers can be raped, too.

Porn star James Deen did his first interview on Tuesday since nine rape allegations have been made against him. The interview was released two weeks after Deen’s ex-girlfriend Stoya, a writer and porn star, accused Deen of rape. Stoya tweeted about how Deen forced her to have sex with her without consent, yet he is idolized as a feminist.

In response, Deen has said that Stoya’s accusation is false and that he has the utmost respect for women. Likewise, fans of Deen dismissed the claim based on the porn star’s good-natured attitude and reputation for being attentive to the comfort of his female co-stars.

In a time when the nation is mobilizing to combat sexual assault, Stoya’s decision to speak up has contributed another angle to the conversation about consent. It has brought mainstream attention to the fact that people in the sex industry can be sexually assaulted.

On a national basis, an estimated 58 percent of prostitutes face violence at the hands of clients, according to Laws.com. More incidents likely occur, but remain unreported because sex work is illegal and its participants are not held in high regard by society.

If that isn’t disheartening enough, sex workers may feel discouraged when it comes to breaking their silence because rape survivors’ “promiscuity” will be put under a microscope in a court of law. The rationale is that adult film actors, strippers and prostitutes should understand the perception of their work and that they are putting themselves in a position for their consent to be disregarded.

This may due in part to the fact that BDSM and rape scenes are often enacted in porn, which complicates the public’s belief that sex workers can be victims of physical and sexual violence.

With the case of Deen in particular, Amber Rayne and Kora Peters explained how they were punched and violated by Deen during filming with no consequences. It’s conceivable that porn producers and consumers would have trouble drawing the line between scripted rape narratives and sexual aggression.

Being able to distinguish between fantasy and reality goes hand-in-hand with honoring someone’s right to consent to sex. Even though he said that he is sorry in retrospect for pushing boundaries, Deen should have made sure that his co-stars consented at every step of the film production process.

Another reason why people are inclined to dismiss Stoya’s accusation against Deen is that they were romantic partners. When it comes to rape cases, some people are inclined to say that being in a romantic and sexual relationship with someone assumes consent for sexual intercourse by virtue of being in a relationship.

This view is unfair to the reluctant partner, because wanting to have or having had sex with someone does not mean that you are available to them at any time. This is why affirmative consent is so important: it should be clear between couples, porn stars or not, that both parties are willing and comfortable with every sexual act along the way.

It is important to note that the frequency of rape cases attached to sex work may be misconstrued as an argument against stripping or porn; however, one of the biggest drawing points about sex work is that is empowering for some women. Part of what enables sex workers to be empowered in what they do is the ability to consent to partners, to nudity, to prices and to sexual acts — most importantly — on their own terms.

Call-outs like that of Stoya’s not only counter the stigma surrounding sex work and sexual assault, but also move the conversation away from blaming victims and toward combating rape culture.

Sex workers are human beings like the rest of us and should be afforded the same agency in what they decide to do with their bodies. No one’s right to accept or decline sex should be waived based on their occupation or how much sex they have had in the past.

Caroline Colvin is a sophomore magazine journalism major. Her column appears weekly. She can be reached at ccolvin@syr.edu and followed on Twitter at @fkacaro.

Published on December 10, 2015 at 1:22 am