WARNING: This post deals with suicide, and may be triggering for some readers.
The pornography industry is currently mourning the deaths of four of its North American stars. All young, all women, all lost within the past three months.
Hall of Fame member Shyla Stylez died in her sleep in November, aged 35.
August Ames, 23, was found dead last month in a Californian park, reportedly after leaving a suicide note to her parents.
Yuri Luv, 31, succumbed to an apparent drug overdose, a bottle of pills found near her bed in December.
The latest to join this tragic list is Olivia Nova (real name Lexi Forte) who died on January 7, after less than a year in the business.
The 20-year-old had lost her boyfriend to suicide just days before her birthday in April last year, and during the Christmas period posted numerous tweets about feeling lonely. She had also previously sought help for alcohol dependence, a friend and colleague recently told The Mirror.
Of course, this cluster of deaths are only those that have made the headlines; the sad reality is that there are possibly several more that went unreported.
High-profile Australian porn actor and escort Madison Missina told Mamamia the problem with mental ill-health runs deep within the local industry too. The 35-year-old said the problem is so prevalent, so ingrained, that as a 17-year veteran of the industry and a qualified counsellor, she took it upon herself to establish a support group for her colleagues.
Top Comments
To try to pretend that the reason why these poor girls are killing themselves is simply because mental health workers don't take them seriously is absolutely ridiculous and insane. Of course your mental health and self esteem are connected to how you conduct yourself in life; allowing yourself to be treated as an object, just a series of orifaces for men to violate, and all in front of a camera and crew (plus the extensive damage done to society, marriages, women, men and especially children) is of course going to lead to depression and suicide. It's beyond devastating that these girls are lead to believe that porn is somehow "empowering"... what rubbish. It's a despicable evil that does untold damage, and these young girls are evidence of how women in this industry are thrown aside like trash on the side of the road. Where were their mothers and fathers in their childhood?
Hear hear! Women will NEVER be equal while this unregulated disgusting demeaning industry exists and it will never not exist because, well, sex sells and intrigues: every generation of 12 year olds with a mobile phone will ensure its survival into perpetuity! What a scourge on our society it is and what a challenging time to be a parent of young people, ALL of whom are exposed to porn at a younger and younger age.