The Rocco Siffredi case and the role of porn in gender-based violence

In a series of reports, the Italian television programme Le Iene ("The Hyenas") has accused the pornographic film performer, producer and director of sexual violence and abuse against a number of performers he has worked with. Siffredi, 61, has denied every accusation, and in a letter published by the gossip site Dagospia calls into question the programme's code of ethics, the methodology of its investigation and the testimonies of the people concerned. 

The accusations against Siffredi, writes Marina Nasi for Valigia Blu, "have reignited a debate that is necessary and often suppressed: the question of consent and the limits of self-determination in the context of sex work, and the increasing depictions of violence in contemporary porn. Indeed, when we look at physical, psychological and sexual abuse in a working environment such as pornography, we see deep contradictions and situations in which consent is taken for granted, considered implicit or even coerced. To this is added an objective difficulty when it comes to complaints: there is a lack of specific legal protections, and the stigma that still burdens those who work in the porn industry".  

Sarah Rost in Voxeurop covers two major trials in France, in which more than 40 women have filed civil suits against 16 men (including producers and performers) for aggravated rape, complicity in rape, aggravated exploitation of prostitution, human trafficking for the purposes of committing rape and publishing images of sexual violence. 

The modus operandi described in the two French trials echoes the accusations against Siffredi. Nasi writes:

"There is always a young, novice actress confronted by Siffredi, a famous and powerful 'porn star', director and producer, a senior figure, popular and celebrated even outside his milieu; there is always a request for at least one specific sexual act to which the female performer had denied consent (before or during the act); and there is always the moment when the woman gives in and resigns herself to undergoing what she has repeatedly tried to refuse. In some cases, it is reported that there is brutality against the womens' bodies. Siffredi's defence, when interviewed by Le Iene , varies from 'in porn, from the point of view of the stage and what people want to see, consensual doesn't work' to 'maybe in some scenes I could have stopped earlier, cut earlier or tried doing less', to 'today if a woman wants to destroy you, all she has to do is invent whatever she wants'".

In Il Domani, Elisabetta Moro explains that "the investigation has become such a hot topic because it touches on the theme of sexual consent, but also that of workplace harassment, and the fact that this is a professional sector that is barely regulated in Italy". 

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‘When you see the movie Deep Throat, you are watching me being raped’ – Linda (Marchiano) Lovelace

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"Any kind of actress can experience harassment and pressure from a big producer", says Sofia Bellucci, professional adult performer, in Il Domani, "but so can a secretary with a businessman who abuses his power. It's just that in porn there is the idea that if you are there, you have to accept everything because you're asking for it".

"The problem comes when acts are requested that have not been agreed to, or when, perhaps due to physical or psychological discomfort, the performer withdraws consent to a certain act. "You can say no, but you don't know if they will pay you, if they will badmouth you or ask you for compensation", Bellucci adds. "The attention given to consent depends on the different production studios, and also the country". According to Bellucci, "in order to protect themselves, performers have no choice but to rely on word of mouth about reliable studios or performers, or to work independently via online platforms".

Generally speaking, legislation on pornography is highly fragmented and varies widely across Europe. And, as Sarah Rost points out in Voxeurop, the legislation never concerns those who work in the industry, but only the consumers of porn.

But protection should not focus on barriers to accessing content, but rather on the structure of the content in question. In The Guardian Lucy Knight reports on a statement by Caroline Dariant, the daughter of Gisèle Pelicot, according to whom her mother would not have suffered over 200 rapes if pornography did not exist. The issue of course is not pornography as such, but an industry that trafficks in domination, violence and submission.

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In her analysis, Nasi cites a study published in the British Journal of Criminology, which explains that "one in eight of the titles displayed on the first visit to popular porn sites describes sexual activity that constitutes violence. The increase and normalisation of humiliating, brutal and potentially dangerous practices for the performers themselves compose an aesthetic of violence that, moreover, would seem to shape not only pornographic consumption, but also real-life sexual expectations and behaviour".

Nasi cites the frequent use of the verb "break" in the accounts of those who suffered or witnessed abuse on set, as well as in those who claimed to make porn in specific ways. Historian Christelle Taraud, in the preface of a book that came out following the opening of the two trials in France, speaks of "Predatory sexual capitalism" and "slaughter porn".

Such cases are numerous: the performers Leigh Raven and Riley Nixon spoke out in 2018, while the male performers Ron Jeremy and James Deen were also accused of violence and abuse on set. 

One particularly famous case is that of Linda (Marchiano) Lovelace, known for the film Deep Throat (1972), which reached fame well beyond its niche. Years after the release of the film Marchiano made a statement that is still not sufficiently well known: "When you see the movie Deep Throat, you are watching me being raped".

In 2022 Le Monde reported (on the fiftieth anniversary of the film) the violence that Linda Marchiano experienced at the hands of her husband and the control he exerted over her life during a period of great precarity.

"The Siffredi case, on which justice still has to decide, is only the visible symptom of a much broader and more consolidated structure", Nasi concludes. "It concerns consent, the representation of sexuality, the lack of protection for those working in pornography, the absence of specific laws for cases of violence in a unique and uniquely exposed sector such as sex work. And it concerns above all our responsibility — as viewers, citizens, consumers — not to close our eyes to violence, even when it is packaged as entertainment".