WePay Cancels Crowdfunding for Adult Performer’s Medical Treatment

When adult entertainer, Eden Alexander developed Steve Johnson’s Syndrome after taking a common antibiotic, she attempted to take matters into her own hands. Steve Johnson’s Syndrome is a excruciatingly painful skin condition, which is very dangerous if left untreated. Unfortunately, according to The Rumpus, doctors assumed the skin condition was a result of drug use—because of her profession. As a result, she developed a staph infection which has spread to other organs and has affected her motor skills.

Because her work isn’t stable enough, she reached out and set up a crowdfund on GiveForward, raking up around $4,000, but yesterday she received an e-mail that stated WePay, the online payment service provider had forced them to cancel the whole thing, freezing her funds. They claimed she violated their Terms of Service, saying she would not accept payment in connection to pornographic items.

Despite the fact that Eden maintained she would only be using the funds to pay for her medical expenses and nothing else, her campaign remained canceled. She posted some distressing Tweets before being taken to a hospital, where she is currently said to be in stable condition.

But another campaign has been set up for Eden at Crowdtilt and has racked up nearly $7,000, so some good may come out of this yet. EJ Dickson at Daily Dot points out that online payment service providers have a history of discriminating against sex workers, a reflection of banks like Chase shutting down porn actors’ accounts. While such companies can assert that crowdfunding for a person who works in the sex industry must mean a violation of the ‘Terms of Service,’ at the end of the day, it’s still discrimination.