Women in porn: Web cam CEO says performers choose self-empowerment

Bella French: Adult film CEO breaks stereotypes The CEO of ManyVids supports sex workers and wants them to work safely.

Bella French was an entrepreneur in the fashion industry before starting work performing in front of a web camera.

She has since become the CEO of ManyVids, an adult entertainment company with dozens of technical employees, thousands of content creators, and millions of paying clientele.

"Being a cam girl you're 100 percent in control of what you do or don't want to do," said French.

"It really empowered me and I felt more in control than I had ever been in my life."

She said the experience changed her opinion about sex work and sex workers.

"Most of the models that we have on our platforms, that we have on ManyVids they want to be sex workers, they want to be cam girls. It's very different than what people think," said French.

That attitude is in line with Quebec's most prominent women's group, the Federation des femmes du Quebec, which recently passed a resolution declaring that women are capable of choosing a career as a sex worker.

Since then several groups have left the FFQ because they feel no women could voluntarily choose sex work.

French says technology has managed to take an age-old problem and turn it on its head.

"This is the beginning of a new era. Completely new things are completely changing. There's a huge movement within the adult industry... which is extremely popular," said French.

Watch the interview for more from Bella French.