Although often controversial, the thirty year-old adult film industry has become deeply entrenched in American society. Last year, the sale and rental of pornographic videos earned roughly $1 billion in the United States.
Most of these films are made in the San Fernando valley, a short drive from Hollywood, California. For the actors involved, the risk of contracting a sexually transmitted disease is high, making the tragedy of becoming infected with HIV an occupational hazard.
But thanks to the novel and singular efforts of the Adult Industry Medical Health Care Foundation, the potentially deadly health risks of working in this unabashedly profit-oriented and some would say exploitative business have been greatly reduced for thousands of adult film actors.
Founded in 1998 by Sharon Mitchell, a former adult film star, AIM provides HIV testing for up to 700 actors each month, supplying them and their co-workers with both a transparent view of their health risks as well as a pragmatic counseling stance that allows actors to balance the pros and cons of their profession.
In addition to one-on-one counseling and testing, AIM also maintains a database of film stars and their on-screen counterparts. This network allows the organization, a non-profit funded in part by its contracts with adult industry producers and manufacturers, to contact clients who may be at risk due to their previous contact with an infected actor.
This week, California Connected visits AIM’s office and clinic to profile both the group’s life-saving work and the experiences of one of its newest customers.