It shouldn't take a rape accusation to prove that sex workers can be raped | The Guardian →
Adult performer Stoya signed into her Twitter account on Saturday and, in two succinct Tweets, leveled rape accusations at her former boyfriend and one-time porn co-star, James Deen. “That thing where you log into the internet for a second and see people idolizing the guy who raped you as a feminist. That thing sucks,” she wrote. Just over 10 minutes later, she clarified: “James Deen held me down and fucked me while I said no, stop, used my safeword. I just can’t nod and smile when people bring him up anymore.”
The reaction was swift: since Saturday afternoon, the tweets went viral, engendering two supportive hashtags (#SolidaritywithStoya and#standwithStoya); porn outlets Kink.com and Evil Angel dropped Deen from their rosters; The Frisky ended Deen’s sex column; and two more porn performers, Tory Lux and Ashley Fires, came forward with their own stories of alleged abuse by Deen.
Stoya’s tweets and their quick entry into the news cycle hints at a larger cultural movement: that people are believing women, even sex workers, when they say they were raped.