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They were also loath to call for help, since they’d have to admit why they’d traveled to San Diego in the first place. As a result, several women felt they had little choice but to complete the shoot. The men waited until minutes before the scheduled start of shooting to present women with lengthy contracts. They were then pressured to skim the documents quickly and sign them so that the shooting could get under way. Several of those involved with Girls Do Porn have since been convicted, including Ruben Andre Garcia, who worked as a recruiter, producer, and actor for Girls Do Porn, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison in November, external. That’s precisely why GirlsDoPorn owner Michael Pratt, videographer Matthew Wolfe, and actor Andre Garcia created a bait-and-switch scheme to get the women to appear in their videos.

How to stay safe online

In many cases, these videos ended up on mainstream porn sites like Pornhub. A US judge has awarded $12.8m (£9.8m) to 22 unnamed women, ruling that they were tricked into appearing in widely distributed online porn videos. Pornhub was hit with a $40 million lawsuit from sex-trafficking victims the day after it said it had started deleting millions of videos from its platform, Vice reported. SAN DIEGO – Michael Pratt, the alleged mastermind behind the GirlsDoPorn commercial sex trafficking ring, made his first appearance in federal court today following his extradition from Spain Monday night… One woman recalled the day she learned that her pornographic video received more than 300 million views on Pornhub, one of the most-visited websites in the world. The second week of the civil trial once again brought the glare of mainstream media into an industry it struggles to understand.

Pornhub parent company faces $80m lawsuit for hosting videos of ‘trafficked’ women

In focus groups, some participants said they felt isolated, calling for helplines and local support services, and reiterating a need for digital safe spaces. Systemic changes were also called for, such as greater repercussions for people who abuse others, better moderation, improved identity and age checks on social media platforms and the option to report harassment or other harmful content to trained staff instead of bots. A further 73 young women and girls were interviewed about the online harassment they experience and asked about solutions in focus groups divided by age range and led by Plan’s country teams in the Philippines, Malawi and Brazil. Almost half, with some as young as 13, reported seeing or receiving unwanted sexual images or videos, and a quarter said they had experienced discrimination or hate speech online when sharing the threats they face. CNN As Equals and NGO Plan International surveyed more than 600 young women and girls aged across nine countries worldwide and found that most (75%) have faced harmful content online at some point, with more than one in 10 experiencing it daily or almost daily. Yeah, and realizing that it was a crime scene infested with real sexual crime and just sounding the alarm.

• Both sites offered paid subscriptions and featured videos of young adult women appearing in their first pornographic video.
• Pratt, Wolfe and co-defendant Ruben Garcia all told Moser to block any calls from these women.
• Althaus’ suit accuses Aylo and ECP of aiding and abetting sex trafficking, profiting from sex trafficking and advertising a victim of sex trafficking.

• Moser told the court that she had no idea that the name of the company was Girls Do Porn when she was hired.
• “We hope this helps the victims close a difficult chapter in their lives.” Grossman thanked the prosecution team and the FBI for the relentless pursuit of justice in this case.
• The second week of the civil trial once again brought the glare of mainstream media into an industry it struggles to understand.

Other co-defendants have struck plea deals, but Pratt — who faces decades in federal prison if convicted — could choose to take the case to trial after pleading not guilty. Pratt was on the lam for three years and had been listed among the FBI’s most-wanted fugitives by the time he was arrested in Spain in December 2022. Five of those indicted alongside him have pleaded guilty to their crimes, each fingering Pratt as the ringleader. The majority of his co-conspirators have started their sentences in prison.

“They had similar stories because the defendants told the same lies to everyone,” he said. The allegations filed against them are the same as those in the civil case. “Collectively, they have experienced severe harassment, emotional and psychological trauma, and reputational harm; lost jobs, academic and professional opportunities and family and personal relationships; and had their lives derailed and uprooted,” he continued.

Nearly two dozen women won $12.7 million in a fraud lawsuit against the owners and operators of a San Diego-based pornographic website, GirlsDoPorn, a Superior Court judge ruled Thursday. A woman testified in court on Wednesday to an elaborate scheme hatched by three men who operate a San Diego-based pornography website to get her and 21 other women into appearing in a sex video. SAN DIEGO – Deondre Demetris Porter of Victorville, California was sentenced in federal court to 10 years in prison for sex trafficking a 16-year-old girl who was physically assaulted and…

‘The models…made statements on video agreeing the pornographic videos could be used in any manner the producer wished to use them,’ wrote Sadock. The women were told that the videos would only be shipped on DVDs to customers overseas. If the women were unsure about participating, they would be connected with so-called “reference models” to reassure them.

Before some of the video shoots, victims were offered alcohol or marijuana. Victims who consumed alcohol or smoked marijuana were directed to make a recorded statement saying that they were not under the influence of any drugs or alcohol, even though they had just smoked marijuana or drank alcohol. She claimed she tried to report how she was sex trafficked and raped to MindGeek, where the video was being distributed, but said she was ignored due to their focus on making “millions of dollars” off the content, the lawsuit reads. In 2016, when the class action lawsuit was filed against Girls Do Porn, Pratt allegedly instructed Moser to delete all of the messages and complaints from the models as well as shred all of the receipts and expenses that she had kept up with. Several models then started sending complaints to Moser about the videos that were allegedly uploaded directly online and often racked up hundreds of thousands of views. In August, the first of 22 women testified in San Diego Superior Court against the popular adult video service, which is owned by Michael Pratt, as part of a lawsuit against the company.

They were told the videos were for a private collector or overseas DVDs, according to the 181-page judgement. Many said they were pressured into performing sex acts they’d previously refused to do. Some said they were told they would not be allowed to leave, or their flights home would be canceled, if they did not complete filming.

But the results highlight the voices and daily experiences of many of these young women face. But experts warned that platforms have so far failed to outpace spiraling online abuse and harmful content, often implementing safeguards after problems are raised. A coalition of groups fighting gendered digital abuse in the UK, including Chayn, have also campaigned for platforms to proactively build guards against abuse. Hussain wants to see more platforms prioritize “safety-by-design” and said tech companies are now investing more in controls.