UK job centres are encouraging OnlyFans as self-employment for unemployed women, while stories emerge of male job coaches seeking free access to their ‘content’.
OnlyFans is seen as a bit of a joke and no big deal, partly because, unlike Pornhub, the name allows us to gloss over the true nature of the site’s content. In the Jobcentre, as in life, there is profound lack of understanding of what these sites truly entail, the dynamics involved in making money from them, who drives the profits and who pays the price. For clarity, OnlyFans is a site of primarily pornographic content. Not exclusively but, as its doomed 2021 attempt to shut down sexualised content demonstrated, it is young naked female bodies that keep the site profitable.
[N]ot only does an OnlyFans creator have to pay subscriptions for her own potential exploitation, and possibly fees to a third party acting as a pimp or procurer, she is then required to pay tax on her income for no discernible benefits. That’s a lot of people making money from a so-called employment situation that can’t and won’t protect creators from exploitation that occurs within it.
What is most outrageous is the fact that the DWP regards prostitution as a legitimate career path. In society, the narrative being pushed is that OnlyFans is sexy, fun and empowering. In the DWP, the narrative is that it’s authentic self-employment.
If a Work Coach mandates a claimant to apply for a job and the claimant fails to do so, it is very much within the Work Coach’s purview to nominate that claimant for a sanction on their monthly benefit payment. This sanction is very often a reduction to zero, meaning that the claimant is left with no money to cover essential expenses for the month. So, what becomes of the woman who struggles to find a job but won’t accept sexual exploitation as an alternative? Her benefit will be reduced and she’ll be edged further into poverty. What if she encounters a vindictive Work Coach who seeks to make an example of her for not providing him with ongoing free content? Likely the same.
Right now, in the DWP, sexual exploitation is being reframed as an employment issue. People should know about this and we should fight against it.