Ukraine Debates Legalizing Porn To Pay For Military Drones

Ukraine is considering legalizing pornography to help pay for the massive costs of its war with Russia.Unlike most of Europe, Ukraine outlaws pornography, making it punishable by up to seven years in prison. Despite that, pornography is a booming underground business.Federal authorities looking for new tax revenue have been using data from Fenix International, the United Kingdom-based parent of OnlyFans, to hunt down thousands of creators on the platform who collectively make more than $100 million a year. But if those creators pay taxes on the income, they are admitting they are breaking the law.Svitlana Dvornikova is one of the women caught in that quandary. The OnlyFans creator with more than 1 million subscribers received a letter from tax authorities saying she owes approximately $900,000 in unpaid taxes on her earnings. After she paid the back taxes, her home was raided and she was charged with a crime.Ms. Dvornikova responded by launching a petition on President Volodymyr Zelensky’s website seeking to legalize pornography. Her petition quickly received enough support to trigger a required response from Mr. Zelensky.An opposition lawmaker, Yaroslav Zhelezniak, co-authored a bill in the Ukrainian parliament to decriminalize pornography. “These women either don’t pay taxes and face criminal charges for that, or they pay taxes and get charged with violating pornography laws,” Mr. Zhelezniak told the Wall Street Journal. “It’s a tragicomic situation.”Mr. Zhelezniak estimates that taxes on legal pornography could add about $25 million a year to state coffers. That’s a drop in the bucket compared to Ukraine’s estimated $27 billion budget gap but Mr. Zhelezniak says it would be enough to purchase 30,000 drones.The idea faces pushback, however, in a country with a history of exploiting women as sex workers. A former prime minister, Yulia Tymoshenko, spoke out against the bill claiming it could turn Ukraine into a “pornographic hub,” the Washington Post reported.The All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations said the proposal poses a significant threat to public health, morality, and the dignity of Ukrainian society. “It is particularly disgraceful when the initiators of the bill justify their initiative by claiming it will allow women to legally sell their bodies for volunteer contributions to support the Ukrainian army,” it said in a statement.The religious leaders said that if pornography is legalized there will be a significant increase in the risk of women being forced into the sex industry.Mr. Zhelezniak, on the other hand, says legalizing the industry would limit corruption and exploitation. “I believe we are already mature enough as a nation to acknowledge that sex exists,” Mr. Zhelezniak said during a July speech in parliament.While the bill would decriminalize most pornography, it would strengthen laws and penalties for the production and distribution of child pornography. The bill overwhelmingly passed on its first reading but is awaiting a second reading after any amendments are made.The case against Ms. Dvornikova has been put on hold as lawmakers debate the pornography bill. She travels outside Ukraine every few weeks to continue her OnlyFans livestreams. Hundreds of other OnlyFans models have moved abroad permanently to avoid prosecution.“This is a victimless crime. It unnecessarily burdens the legal system at a time when we should be focused on defending the country,” a tax lawyer in Ukraine who represents women on the platform, Lesia Mykhalenko, told the Journal.

Ukraine Debates Legalizing Porn To Pay For Military Drones

Ukraine Debates Legalizing Porn To Pay For Military Drones

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