Dozens of feminists have staged a protest in central London to protest against the "meat market" of the pornography industry, as adult entertainment executives attended an international trade summit in Bloomsbury.

Dressed as butchers in aprons smeared with fake blood, the activists waved pretend meat cleavers and chanted anthems outside the Radisson hotel in Bloomsbury. "You're not welcome in our city," they sang. "Pornographers go home!"

The three-day XBIZ EU conference, which opened for the first time in London on Friday, is billed as an "international digital media conference" for the adult entertainment industry.

Speakers include Michael Klein, president of Hustler, the pornographic magazine and website, and Berth Milton, chairman and chief executive of Private Media Group, a producer and distributor of pornography. Its website says it is "designed to deliver cutting-edge educational seminars, engaging technology workshops, special guest keynote presentations and high-energy business-networking and deal-making opportunities".

But to the men and women protesting, the conference's slick image conceals a disturbing reality of misogyny in 21st-century pornography. Julia Long of the London Feminist Network said: "This summit is being presented as a lavish, respectable corporate event, when in fact it is a brazen opportunity for the porn industry to plan new ways of profiting from the exploitation of women."

Watching the protest, Claire Wigington, head of marketing of Television X, said this argument was "simplified". "It's easy to say 'porn degrades women' but the women in the industry know what they're doing," she said.

In recent years the multi-billion dollar industry has become a focus for the feminist movement as fears grow over the impact its pervasive influence is having on society at large. Activists claim that viewing pornography can lead to greater acceptance of rape myths and attitudes supporting violence against women.

Gail Dines, academic and author of Pornland: How Porn has Hijacked our Sexuality, said it was "central" to the fight for equality. "You cannot have a massive industry built on the sexual torture and dehumanisation and debasement of women. If you want any gender equality in a society you cannot have this industry steam-rollering into men's psyches, sexuality and identity," she said, adding that there was an "immeasurable" difference between the X-rated industry of decades ago and the kind of "body-punishing, hardcore" material available now, which she says has become the "major seller" in the industry today.

Not all feminists agree, however. Catherine Stephens, an activist for the International Union of Sex Workers, said opposing pornography as a whole did not make sense as there were so many different kinds.

"This porn summit represents pimps in suits … meeting to plot how to push the boundaries of porn even further to increase their profits," said Anna van Heeswijk, campaigns co-ordinator of the activist group Object which organised the protest along with UK Feminista and other groups. "It is their aim to make the sexual violence of porn appear normal and acceptable. It is our aim to stop them. Our message is clear: 'Women are human, stop treating us like objects.'"