Women Take Porn Company to Court and Win, Bigtime

Nearly two dozen women who say they were coerced and tricked into shooting porn videos have won their case in court, Ars Technica reports. On Thursday, a California judge ordered the popular porn site GirlsDoPorn to give $13 million to 22 female plaintiffs—but whether they'll ever see a dime is unclear. "Plaintiffs have suffered and continue to suffer far-reaching and often tragic consequences," the judge wrote in the tentative statement. "Collectively, they have experienced severe harassment, emotional and psychological trauma, and reputational harm." Their losses include "jobs, academic and professional opportunities, and family and personal relationships." Several of them even considered suicide.

The women say they were offered $5,000 or more for the videos, which were purportedly for sale to private collectors abroad. But GirlsDoPorn posted them on the company's website and Pornhub instead, along with the women's names and social media details—so the women were "doxed and harassed relentlessly," per the Washington Post. The women had also been pressured into signing vague contracts after the crew plied them with drugs and alcohol, the judge said. Now GirlsDoPorn owner Michael Pratt has fled the country and moved his assets abroad, but his two co-conspirators, Matthew Wolfe and Ruben Garcia, have been arrested on a separate criminal case for alleged federal sex-trafficking. The company has made millions on its porn videos. (More pornography stories.)