There have been a number of cases where women have been threatened or assaulted to create pornographic content in order to make money on OnlyFans
Enslaved on OnlyFans: Women describe lives of isolation and torture
https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/onlyfans-sex-trafficking/
On a morning in August 2022, a woman escaped from her suburban Wisconsin home and ran into a waiting police car. The woman, who was 23 years old at the time of writing, had been held captive for nearly two years by her ex-boyfriend, Austin Kekeritz, and was forced to film sex videos and other content almost every night to be sold on platforms such as OnlyFans.
Kekeritz and the woman met in August 2020. Kekeritz introduced himself on his blog as a 'business owner, artist, and psychology student,' and invited the woman on dates to museums and other places, promising to travel the world together someday. The woman believed that Kekeritz loved her, and the two moved into a home in Wisconsin, but Kekeritz soon tried to isolate the woman from her family and friends.
The woman was barred from attending her grandmother's funeral, and was allegedly subjected to violence by Kekeritz, including drop-kicks, pinning her down so she could not breathe, and repeatedly raping her despite her protests.
Then, in January 2021, Kekeritz said, 'We'll make $5 million and live off that,' and began producing sexual content to sell on porn platforms such as OnlyFans, Chaturbate, and MyFreeCams. The woman was confined by Kekeritz and forced to work 60 hours a week, and was not even allowed to take sick leave.
According to financial records submitted to the court by prosecutors, the women's content generated more than $422,000 in revenue on OnlyFans and other platforms, but Kekeritz put most of that money into his own bank account and gave the women just $2,000.
Kekeritz threatened to shoot the woman's family if they came to take her away, kept guns in every room, and sometimes chased her with a shotgun. The woman told investigators, 'I still have dreams about that time.'
'My body felt like it was going to die. I didn't know if it was going to die from the physical exhaustion and constant sex or if I was going to take my own life,' she said.
The woman eventually decided to run away and managed to contact police, who provided her with protection. During a police search of her home, police confiscated 14 guns, including a loaded rifle, up to 20,000 rounds of ammunition, military vests, and sex toys.
After being arrested by police, Kekeritz pleaded guilty to sex trafficking and was sentenced to 20 years in prison in November 2023. The woman said, 'Two years in that house felt like decades, and I prepared myself for death in pain and loneliness. I don't think this pain will ever fully heal.'
The Wisconsin woman's case is just one example of sex trafficking through OnlyFans: A Reuters investigation has identified 11 women who have complained to authorities or filed lawsuits alleging they were coerced into performing sex acts for content sold on OnlyFans.
The actual number of victims is believed to be much higher because OnlyFans requires users to pay a subscription fee to view the content, making it difficult to investigate the rampant sex trafficking that occurs on the platform.
Victims who are scared or traumatized may hesitate to testify in court and may hesitate to press charges. One woman living in Florida was forced by her fiancé to produce pornography for sale on OnlyFans for several months, and filed charges of sex trafficking after he was arrested on a separate charge. However, the woman said that talking about the incident made her feel sick as she recalled the events, and she withdrew her complaint out of concern that it would affect her custody of her young son.
On its website, OnlyFans states that it prohibits 'modern slavery,' including prostitution and human trafficking, and that moderators are trained to review all content on the website and identify and report suspected human trafficking. OnlyFans CEO
As part of efforts to combat sex trafficking, OnlyFans will require performers to provide consent for content posted on the platform from November 2022 onwards. But in at least one case identified by Reuters, a woman was forced to film a sex video after 2023 and threatened with beatings if she did not comply. It was not possible to confirm whether the woman in that case signed a consent form.
Perpetrators who force women to create and sell sexual content are not necessarily in a romantic relationship with their victims. In one case where a couple was arrested, the couple traveled across six states in the northeastern United States and forced multiple women to create sexual content to sell on OnlyFans. Court records state that the couple beat the women when they refused to comply with their orders, gave them sleeping pills, deprived them of food when they did not work enough, and confiscated their identification to prevent them from running away. The couple was said to be raising two young children with the proceeds from this sex trafficking.
Andrew Tate, an influencer known for his anti-feminism and machismo, was charged in June 2023 with human trafficking, forming an organized crime ring to sexually exploit women, and rape, for allegedly inviting seven women and forcing them to engage in sexual acts on OnlyFans with his brother and taking the proceeds for himself. The case has also spawned copycat criminals in Romania, who described the Tate brothers as mentors and friends.
A lawsuit filed in August 2024 alleges that porn star and reality TV personality Brittany Razavi lured financially struggling showgirls and immigrant women into creating pornography to sell on OnlyFans. Razavi provided the women with a place to live and told them that if they created sexual content for OnlyFans under his supervision, they would earn quick cash and live a lavish lifestyle.
Razavi used the women's IDs and social security numbers to create OnlyFans accounts that only he could access. He then got the women to drink alcohol and engage in sexual acts in front of the camera, generating more than $1.3 million in revenue from the content he produced. The proceeds were deposited into a bank account controlled by Razavi, and he gave only 10% of the 50% share he had been promised in advance to the women.
Contacted by Reuters, Razavi's lawyer firmly denied the allegations and declined to comment further, while OnlyFans did not respond to queries from Reuters.
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