Pornographers To Convene In Reykjavík

Uncovering a story that has already enraged Iceland's feminist collective to an oft-reached boiling point, RÚV reported yesterday that up to 150 veterans of the international pornography industry will convene for a week of networking and fun in Iceland next month. The annual convention is referred to as Snowgathering and is apparently one of the largest aggregations of web-based porn-merchants in the world.

Accompanied by renowned artists such as "Dutch hotty Sandy Cage" and "UK Party Animal Daisy Rock", the pornographers will meet up in Reykjavík's Radisson SAS hotel on Wednesday March 7th for some cocktails before partaking in such conventional activities as snowboarding in Akureyri, visiting strip-clubs and touring the Golden Circle, according to the convention's web-site. The site goes on to claim that a scantily clad woman called Eve Angel wants to meet YOU in Iceland.

Browsing through on-line pictures from last year's Snowgathering, which took place in Austria, one can ascertain that some of the visiting pornographers use the trip to manufacture some more of their controversial products. When asked by RÚV's reporter if there were plans afoot to produce pornography in Iceland, convention organizer Christina Ponga stated that that would likely happen, although neither time nor place for such activities had been planned. She added that any such productions would take place in secluded areas, and that the convention's guests weren't planning on shedding any of their clothes in public.

Ponga furthermore said that no Icelandic travel agency or group had anything to do with organizing the convention; she herself had visited Iceland in November and chosen the appropriate venues and activities.

This morning, the group Stígamót (which runs a counselling and information centre for survivors of sexual abuse and violence) sent out an open letter to Icelandic authorities urging them to take action to prevent the convention from taking place. The letter states that "[p]ornography is simply documented prostitution, and prostitution is a premise for human trafficking to thrive. In 2005, 19 women sought out Stígamót because of the consequences of prostitution. […] Pornography is prohibited in Iceland, and so is arranging prostitution. Human trafficking is also prohibited."

The foundation closes its plea for action by stating that "In Iceland, we have shown that if we don't want representatives of organised crime coalitions, we can stop them. That was for instance revealed when representatives of Hell's Angels tried to gain ground here. We don't believe that this convention will be tolerated."