LOS ANGELES — The Adult Performer Advocacy Committee has issued a call for empathy, nonviolent communication, and compassion in the wake of the August Ames tragedy, where online bullying seems to have played a part in the death of a promising young actress.
The full statement from APAC appears below:
“APAC acknowledges that the adult film performer community is not without disagreement, division, and differences. Every performer has a unique approach to their boundaries, limitations, and risk management. APAC will always stand on the side of bodily autonomy and safety, but also on the side of communication, education, and community. Due to the public nature of working in this industry, adult film performers are often bombarded with online and in real life hostility from those in and outside of the industry. Being an adult film performer is unfortunately accompanied by a stigma that often exacerbates independent struggles, feelings of otherness, and marginalization.
APAC is calling upon its community members to practice empathy, compassion, and the willingness to participate in nonviolent communication to mediate conflict and work toward better interpersonal understanding. Yes, performers will continue to have personal, professional, and ideological disagreements and differences. APAC is beseeching community members to come together in discourse and not give into volatility. Opting for the act of calling in — a conversation framed within empathy, patience, and nonviolence in an instance of disagreement and difference contrasts starkly with the knee-jerk reactivity often found in online spaces.
There is too much nuance in our individual lives and experiences as adult film performers for us to be reduced to two-sided positionalities. The performer community is diverse in the different spaces we take up dependent on our modality, sex and gender identities, and politics. There are inherited traumas, stigma, and problems this industry needs to work through that divides the community.”
For more information, email apac.information@gmail.com or call (818) 927-2903.
