Research Shows Porn Industry's Reason for "Bareback Sex" Is Bunk

The debate as to whether adult film producers should be required to use condoms in their videos has focused largely on performer rights and safety.

Clearly, freedom of speech and occupational health of performers are, and should be, critical concerns for the industry, but other considerations may be equally important. For example, what are the potential public health implications for viewers and what are the attitudes and expectations of those who view pornography? Our research and that of others has expanded the argument to consider if a performer’s condom use may influence viewer sexual behavior. We decided to find out what porn viewers really think about these issues. Public Health Solutions’ latest study entitled “If You Film It Will They Watch? Factors Associated with Willingness to View Safer Sex Messaging in Internet-Based Sexually Explicit Media” may be surprising to the porn industry.

In addition to past research which has shown that in fact, there is an association between risk behaviour and viewing condomless sex in sexually explicit media (i.e., pornography), our findings may offer further revelations to the porn industry. It turns out that men and women are willing to view safer sex messaging in online sexually explicit media. This is a challenge to the presumption that porn consumers (viewers) demand condomless porn or that porn is for purely entertainment purposes. We have reported in some of our earlier work that there is not a universal preference for condomless porn, and that porn consumers are equally likely to watch condomless and condom porn. The news of our latest findings hold special significance, as safer sex education and awareness has been key to the all-time low in new HIV diagnoses in New York City.

We asked 859 porn viewers if they would be willing to watch sexually explicit videos that specifically include safer sex messages about condoms and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). Guess what? Our online survey revealed that more than half are willing to watch a pornographic video that features discussions about condom use and PrEP. Notably, many (74 percent) porn viewers in our latest study told us that the porn industry has a responsibility to provide safer sex messaging to audiences. The study, together with our earlier research, shows that it is important for adult film producers to consider viewer sexual health. Importantly, our work suggests that safer sex messaging can co-exist with the entertainment purposes of pornography, rather than hampering or canceling them.

Given these findings, we encourage the adult film industry to consider not just the views of performers, but to focus on solutions that protect both performers and viewers. We welcome a dialogue with adult film industry stakeholders about how the health of both performers and viewers can be maximized, without compromising viewership. What can the public health research community bring to the table in a collaboration with the industry?

We bring a wealth of knowledge and experience in HIV/STI prevention, a multidisciplinary approach to conducting research, a capacity to develop and implement behavior change interventions, and, perhaps most importantly, a willingness to work with adult film industry stakeholders to create effective solutions. One of the ways we can accomplish this is by testing out a series of safer sex messages in porn for their usefulness and acceptability to viewers.

These efforts may find that such messages do not change behavior or might be unacceptable to viewers, but together it may result in new health promoting, yet entertaining, products that potentially reach new audiences.

Martin J. Downing, Ph.D., Research Scientist, Public Health Solutions and Eric W. Schrimshaw, Associate Professor of Sociomedical Sciences at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health