When we think of Team Russia Porn, our minds often drift to images of Russian women being stripped down to their undergarment – especially since sexy Russian ladies are all the rage on Western porn sites. But while these women might appear willing to engage in sexual activities for pay, that may not always be the case; Russia’s legal system does not permit contracts that would enable them to do erotica work for money.
State officials view them as mere commodities for consumption and export. And this issue doesn’t only impact small fetish industries in Russia – the national culture ministry takes an equally harsh stance against female pornographers; to receive a distribution license for an adult film in Russia, all genital contact points in each scene must be covered up with blackout circles to meet regulations for distributor certification – special film editors are hired specifically to do this grunt work on behalf of porn producers.
Similarily, when Russian film director Maryana Kalmykova attempted to release her documentary about Russia and Ingushetia’s territorial dispute in 2018, her documentary was blocked because it allegedly promoted pornography. The Ministry for Internal Affairs claimed the film contained materials “promoting non-traditional sexual relationships” and refused an exhibition license even after screening at Artdocfest in April.
At its root, sexual violence in schools stems from various social problems: predatory criminal justice system (recent arrests of pornographers have shed light on them), lack of sexual education in schools, moral panic repression under false pretexts, class-based contempt for people who perform dirty jobs and misogyny among them – an ongoing challenge both at home and abroad. It will not go away anytime soon either way.