Strong opposition to the European Commission’s participation in the Pornfilmfestival Berlin

A letter was sent yesterday to the European Commission by the PpDM to express our strong opposition and profound disappointment regarding the European Commission’s decision to officially participate in the Pornfilmfestival Berlin 2024. As a feminist abolitionist umbrella organisation committed to the elimination of sexual and reproductive exploitation in all its forms, we are deeply disturbed by the Commission’s engagement with an industry that is fundamentally rooted in the commodification and objectification of women and girls.

The pornography industry perpetuates harmful and violent portrayals of sex, fostering a culture that normalises the sexual exploitation of women and undermines the fundamental rights of women and girls. It is inherently violent, with most videos on major free online platforms depicting severe physical and verbal abuse inflicted on the real women—and often girls—featured in them. By engaging with this industry, the European Commission risks endorsing a system that profits from exploitation and is founded on structural sex-based discrimination. This stands in direct opposition to the values of human dignity and equality between women and men that the European Union is committed to upholding.

We are thus alarmed by the participation of a representative of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content, andTechnology (DG CONNECT), at a panel focused on shaping the future of the adult content industry. This involvement not only lends legitimacy to an industry that exploits women but also weakens the EU’s commitment to protecting women’s rights and eradicating gender-based violence. We cannot understand how the European Commission can justify this alignment with an industry that dehumanises women and profits from their exploitation.

Almost one year after the designation of Pornhub, Stripchat and XVideos as Very Large Online Platforms, these platforms continue to not comply with the Digital Services Act (DSA), namely, by continuing their systemic dissemination of illegal content. It cannot be ignored that the unlawful content which runs rampant on pornography platforms is the video tapping of sexual violence against women, including forms of non-state torture and non-consensual sharing of intimate or manipulated material. While we welcome the Commission’s initiative and role in introducing the Directive on Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence, following the announcement of the Commission’s participation in this event, we must question its commitment to genuinely putting a stop to violence against women offline and online.

The notion of promoting “ethical standards” within the pornography industry is deeply flawed. The harms of this industry are systemic and cannot be reformed or sanitised. Any attempt to regulate it as a legitimate sector ignores the widespread exploitation and abuse that it perpetuates. We believe the Digital Services Act should protect vulnerable individuals, so many of them women and girls, not serve as a platform for dialogue with industries that thrive on dehumanisation.

We strongly urge the European Commission to reconsider its participation in the Pornfilmfestival Berlin and to distance itself from future collaborations with the pornography industry. We expect the EU to lead by example in defending the dignity and rights of women rather than legitimising an inherently exploitative industry. We hope the Commission will take immediate action to withdraw from this event and reaffirm its commitment to eliminating all forms of violence against women and girls.

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