A Sex Worker Says Her Industry's Been Reduced to ‘Trauma Porn.’ So She Told Her Story ‘On Her Own Terms’ (Exclusive)
A Sex Worker Says Her Industry's Been Reduced to ‘Trauma Porn.’ So She Told Her Story ‘On Her Own Terms’ (Exclusive)
Luke ChinmanFri, May 1, 2026 at 3:15 PM UTC
0
Andrea Werhun.Credit: Ben Trivett/Shutterstock -
Andrea Werhun, a Canadian sex worker, is asked the same question by her clients: What traumatic incident occurred during her childhood that forced her into the racy industry?
Sick of the question, Werhun is telling her story on her own terms in the documentary Modern Whore, out May 1
The film combines her personal testimonial, conversations with some of her friends in the industry and reenactments of key moments from her years as a sex worker
Andrea Werhun, a Canadian sex worker, is asked the same question over and over again by her strip club clients: What traumatic incident occurred during her childhood that forced her into the industry? Often, she refuses to answer, and often, her clients are insistent.
“Women don't just become strippers,” a man tells her in Modern Whore, a new documentary that explores her decade-long career as a sex worker. “Something must have happened.”
Werhun has a name for the kinds of stories her clientele fish for: "trauma porn." Though she admits in the documentary that she has no idea why an individual would be so desperate for her to relive her emotional distress, she thinks it's part of a broader effort to create a narrative of shame surrounding sex work, marking it as an illegitimate profession. And she's had enough.
Modern Whore, a documentary directed by Werhun's longtime collaborator Nicole Bazuin and based on Werhun's 2018 memoir of the same name, is her effort to flip the script. The film, which is executive produced by Oscar-winning Anora director Sean Baker and is available to rent on May 1, combines her personal testimonial, conversations with some of her friends in the industry and reenactments of key moments from her years as a sex worker. (The man who asserts that she must be acting out after a traumatic childhood is played by an actor, though the moment is based on actual client interactions.)
The narrative the documentary presents is much more complicated than the one many of her clients attempt to place on her: Sex work is, yes, risky and filled with predators, but mostly because it's an unregulated and criminalized industry.
The poster for 'Modern Whore'Credit: Quiver
Werhun and Bazuin became fast friends when they met as go-go dancers on the set of a music video and first set out to make the documentary five years ago. They were adamant that it be different than the majority of existing portrayals of sex work.
“The problem with the way sex work is represented in TV and film is that 99% of representations are created by people who are not sex workers,” Werhun says in an interview with PEOPLE. “They don't have sex workers on board that have decision-making powers, let alone consultants who can check their work and let them know if something doesn't pass the sniff test.”
In addition to the many sex workers on the set of Modern Whore — whose stories are the fabric of the documentary — Werhun and Bazuin brought in a trauma counselor with a background in sex work and an intimacy coordinator, who helped the subjects and actors navigate the thorny work of reliving and reenacting scenes of sexual assault.
The finished result, Werhun says, has a “well-rounded warmth and authenticity.” It balances the darker moments of work in seedy strip clubs with joy, humor and camaraderie of her friendships with other sex workers in the industry.
Says Werhun: “This film is going to hit differently for people because they have never seen something like this, where a sex worker is able to tell her own story on her own terms.”
Advertisement
Though she bristles at being asked to divulge her darkest moments by clients for their entertainment, Werhun isn't afraid to detail the underbelly of the sex work industry in Modern Whore. The film condemns her horrific client experiences, including one in which she was raped, as well as the neglectful strip club manager who blamed her for not calling for help.
But Werhun's also adamant in her portrayal of the industry that it should be recognized as legitimate work — not criminal activity — and that she's had plenty of positive interactions with clients. One of the most striking moments of the film, for instance, is Werhun's conversation with Ron, a longtime regular.
A 'Modern Whore' screengrab.Credit: Quiver
In the documentary, Werhun calls Ron an “ideal customer,” lauding him for his kindness and respect, and for understanding the “context” of their relationship, one in which he pays a fixed rate to spend a set amount of time with her. Ron also showers Werhun with praise: He says in the film that she's a “good listener,” and that he's told her things he didn't feel comfortable telling anyone else in his life.
— sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
“The choice to include him was an easy one,” Werhun tells PEOPLE of Ron's involvement. His friendly demeanor injects levity into the film, and the mutually fulfilling sex worker-client relationship is “not something you ever get to see in documentaries,” she adds.
Once cast to the margins, sex work has entered the mainstream conversation over the last few years: Just look at 2019's Hustlers, 2024's best picture Oscar winner Anora (for which Werhun served as a sex work consultant) and the breakneck speed at which influencers are moving to OnlyFans, the subscription-based platform known for its X-rated content.
But Werhun says representation — especially in film and TV, which tends to veer into “sensationalism” — doesn't necessarily “further our collective goal towards health and safety and dignity and protection.” Instead, she's a strong advocate for the decriminalization of sex work, similar to the way the industry is regulated in several European countries.
“We also recognize, as we share this film, how much support there is for these changes,” adds Bazuin. “I think that it's time that the law catches up with what's really in people's hearts and minds about true positive change for sex workers.”
Modern Whore is available to stream on demand on Apple TV, Prime Video and other platforms.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
