She thought Austin loved her. But when she moved in, everything changed.
Austin held her captive in a room and forced her to make sexually explicit videos for OnlyFans. She had to create a minimum of $1,000 worth of sexually explicit content every day, and she was never given any of the money.
Austin sexually assaulted her repeatedly. He physically abused her, pouring hot oil down her neck and back because he “thought it was funny.” He threatened to shoot her family if they came to help her.
She was powerless.
The above true story is only one recent example of a woman being sex trafficked on OnlyFans.
In this case, the perpetrator—a Wisconsin man named Austin—pleaded guilty and is scheduled to be sentenced. But how many other sex traffickers are lurking on OnlyFans, as yet undiscovered? How many are hiding behind the façade of a “happy, independent camgirl”?Â
OnlyFans has convinced the world that it is the safe, empowering side of the pornography industry. It’s easy to understand how this deception has gained traction, when the girls appear to be creating content from the “safety” of their own home.
But the reality is: we never know who’s behind the camera. We never know who’s forcing them into that life.
This is a truth which we must declare louder than ever during this Human Trafficking Prevention month.
Sex Trafficking of Adults on OnlyFans
For other examples of sex trafficking happening on OnlyFans, we need look no further than allegations against the high-profile case of kickboxer and influencer Andrew Tate. Similar to Austin, Tate allegedly employed the “loverboy method” of sex trafficking, in which he convinced women he was in love with them, only to manipulate them into creating content for OnlyFans that he controlled and profited from.
While Tate’s prominence as a public figure eventually helped cast light on his alleged crimes, there is no doubt that many more sex traffickers escape scrutiny. A research collaboration project between Human Trafficking Detective Joseph Scaramucci and The Avery Center for Research and Services analyzed a sample of 97 public Instagram accounts of OnlyFans “creators” for indicators of trafficking. Thirty-six percent of these accounts were classified as “likely third-party controlled.”
[See further evidence we’ve compiled in this PDF]
Child Sexual Abuse Material and Sex Trafficking of Minors
Adults are not the only ones who are sexually exploited on OnlyFans. Children are as well.
Although OnlyFans boasts robust age verification measures, these have been shown to fail time and time again. Indicators of child sexual abuse material connected to the site are not difficult to find. For example, when NCOSE researchers searched public Discord servers using the keyword “onlyfans,” nearly a third of the results tagged with OnlyFans contained high indicators of child sex abuse material. One server showed an explicit thumbnail of a man sexually abusing a small female child who appeared to be roughly six years old. NCOSE researchers immediately reported these servers to NCMEC and did not enter any of the indicating servers.
[See further evidence we’ve compiled in this PDF]
ACTION: Ask the U.S. Attorney General to Investigate OnlyFans!
January is National Human Trafficking Prevention Month. What better time to insist that our nation stop overlooking one of the most insidious facilitators of sex trafficking? That is: OnlyFans.
TAKE 30 SECONDS to complete the action form below, asking the U.S. Attorney General to investigate OnlyFans for sex trafficking and child sexual abuse material!
